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ATTY/ORD.410/FIRE SPRINKLER <br />REV: 06-02-15 PT <br />Page 1 of 9 <br />ORDINANCE NO. ______ <br /> <br />AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REDWOOD CITY AMENDING <br />SECTIONS 12.18 AND 12.15 OF THE CITY FIRE CODE AND SECTION <br />9.3 OF THE CITY BUILDING CODE TO REQUIRE AUTOMATIC <br />SPRINKLER SYSTEMS IN MULTI-UNIT RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS OF <br />FOUR UNITS OR MORE AND TO MAKE VIOLATIONS OF THIS <br />REQUIREMENT A MISDEMEANOR <br /> <br /> <br />THE COUNCIL OF REDWOOD CITY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS: <br /> <br />Section 1. The City Council makes the following findings: <br /> <br />1. In recent years, the City has suffered a number of devastating fires to multi-residential <br />buildings lacking Automatic Sprinkler Systems (as defined in the 2013 California Fire <br />and Building Codes at Section 202, “General Definitions”) resulting in death, injury, <br />property loss, and loss of certain housing stock. <br /> <br />a. In general, close proximity living associated with apartment housing creates an <br />increased risk from multiple ignition sources common within an apartment <br />building. Fires in wood frame buildings can ignite interior contents and thereby <br />spread fire from its origin into adjacent areas. <br /> <br />b. During calendar years 2013-2014, the City’s Fire Department responded to a <br />total of 28 multi-unit residential fires. <br /> <br />c. In 2013, Redwood City experienced two particularly significant multi-unit <br />residential fires. On July 7, 2013, a fire occurred at a multi-unit residential <br />apartment building located at 531 Woodside Road. A few months later, on <br />October 17, 2013, another fire occurred at a multi-unit residential apartment <br />building located 926 Woodside Road. <br /> <br />d. Both apartment buildings were built in 1963, were made of wood, and neither <br />apartment building had an Automatic Sprinkler System. The two fires combined <br />claimed the life of one person, sent 26 persons to local hospitals with various <br />injuries, injured several firefighters, displaced over two hundred residents, and <br />resulted in an estimated $26,000,000 in property loss. <br /> <br />e. The apartment building at 531 Woodside had an affordable housing covenant <br />that provided 85 affordable units. Due to the fire, the community lost valuable <br />affordable housing stock. In addition, tenants were permanently displaced and <br />these tenants lost the opportunity to continue renting at guaranteed affordable <br />rates in an increasingly challenging market for renters. <br /> <br />7.4.A. - Page 3