Shelter Cited for Numerous Fire Code Violations Prior to Sprinkler Burst

By URIAH KISER

DUMFRIES, Va. — The ACTS Emergency Homeless Shelter has been cited 14 times in the past four years for fire code violations. The latest came from the Prince William County Fire Marshal’s office on Jan. 28 after a sprinkler head burst inside of the Dumfries facility and displaced 20 residents.

Information on the violations was obtained by Potomac Local News through a Freedom of Information Act request, and the majority of the infringements deal with the sprinkler fire suppression system inside facility, which is a retrofitted home dating back to the mid 1930s.

Most frequently cited were instances where a valve on the sprinkler system had not been opened, which would’ve prevented water from flowing through the sprinkler heads in an event of an emergency. Those types of violations date back to August 2009, according to the report.

The facility was cited again in 2011, and as recently as Dec. 15, 2012, for various violations including having no gauges on the sprinkler system, a missing warning bell, and no proper sprinkler head covers on the building’s front porch.

The sprinkler system was installed in 2005, and it was working properly on January 28 when a sprinkler head burst, said ACTS Executive Director Frances Harris, who also noted that all prior violations had also been fixed prior to the incident.

Officials still don’t know what led to the broken sprinkler head, and Harris said the malfunctioning unit was sent back to the manufacture for examination.

Dumfries Director of Public Works Greg Tkac, who oversees building inspection permits in the town, called the burst sprinkler head a rare event.

“Sprinklers like this are often credited for saving lives, so that’s why it’s been sent to the manufacturer so they can determine the cause and we can update our records with their findings,” said Tkac.

Harris said each time the facility has been cited with a fire code violation it is promptly corrected.

“We call whatever company we need to call to fix the problem, and generally it’s always a quick fix,” said Harris.

While no concrete cost figures were immediately available, repairing last month’s water damage will not be as expensive as ACTS originally anticipated, said Harris. Full repairs are expected to take up to two months and the center has yet to return to normal operations.

The ACTS Emergency Homeless Shelter is one of two facilities operated by the non-profit organization. The second, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, uses a different type of fire suppression system which was checked last month following the incident at the homeless shelter, said Harris.

A community partner with the Prince William County Government, a total of $392,000 in county funds was budgeted for ACTS in 2013.