ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
MEMO: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Automatic sprinkler heads that have been painted over for decades at the state's largest juvenile prison could fail during a fire and threaten the lives of scores of teen-age inmates, state fire inspectors say.
The sprinklers are in three barracks-style buildings that house about 120 teen-age boys at the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center in Powhatan County about 25 miles west of Richmond.
The state fire marshal's office has repeatedly cited the prison for sprinkler violations and other fire safety problems, according to fire inspection reports and other documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.
Painted sprinklers pose especially deadly hazards in prisons where inmates depend on a corrections officer to unlock exits, Fire Marshal Ed Altizer said. ``That's why we put sprinklers in in the first place,'' he said. ``It's a life safety situation.''
Painting sprinkler heads is a violation of the state fire code, said Phil Schaenman of Arlington, whose company, Tri-Data Corp., does fire safety consulting work.
``You're absolutely not supposed to paint sprinkler heads. It's definitely forbidden,'' Schaenman said.
Paint causes sprinklers to fail by clogging water holes and preventing thermal sensors from working, said Al Poe, acting supervisor of the state fire marshal's central regional office in Richmond.
Workers have periodically attempted to clean paint off the sprinkler heads at Beaumont, but the fire code requires their replacement.
The inspection reports also said some sprinkler heads had been installed incorrectly and would not provide the necessary water coverage in the two-story buildings.
The fire marshal's office has told the Department of Juvenile Justice three times since June to replace the sprinkler heads, the documents show.
``If they were a private company, we would have taken them to court,'' said Janet Bruce, spokeswoman for the Department of Housing and Community Development, parent agency of the fire marshal's office.
``We're going to move forward and be in compliance,'' said Bill Cimino, spokesman for Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore.
Beaumont, built in the 1930s to hold 200 youths, has more than 400, including some of the state's most violent juveniles.
The Department of Juvenile Justice said an inspection in early September by an independent contractor found the sprinklers complied with the fire code.
``Based on a report from the independent contractor, the sprinkler heads looked fine,'' said spokeswoman Cari Brunelle.
Carolyn R. Williams, a fire and building code supervisor for the fire marshal, conducted an inspection last week, as well as one on Aug. 21. Another inspector examined the buildings on June 6.
In a Sept. 23 letter to the Department of Juvenile Justice, Williams urged the agency to ``please respond to these [sprinkler] issues as soon as possible.'' No response was received, the fire marshal's office said.
Poe said it's impossible to know if sprinkler heads will work other than by testing water pressure in the pipes. Individual heads cannot be tested because they have a one-time use.
The fire inspection reports show that sprinklers were not the only fire code problems at Beaumont in recent years. Other violations cited were:
* Open and unapproved containers of combustible liquids in the print shop classroom.
* A portable kerosene heater, a discharged fire extinguisher and an unsecured compressed gas cylinder in the body shop.
* A carpet next to a heater in the wood shop.
All of those violations were corrected, according to the fire marshal's reports.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB