North Conway Fire Chief Pat Preece (right) provides an overview of the Red Jacket fire of April 30 to North Conway Water Precinct Commissioners (from left) Robert Porter, chair John Santuccio and Suzanne Nelson at their weekly meeting May 11. (TOM EASTMAN PHOTO)
Scorched walls and piles of rubble mark where a fire ravaged the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort in North Conway on April 30, seen here after some clean-up work on Sunday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
North Conway Fire Chief Pat Preece (right) provides an overview of the Red Jacket fire of April 30 to North Conway Water Precinct Commissioners (from left) Robert Porter, chair John Santuccio and Suzanne Nelson at their weekly meeting May 11. (TOM EASTMAN PHOTO)
Scorched walls and piles of rubble mark where a fire ravaged the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort in North Conway on April 30, seen here after some clean-up work on Sunday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
CONWAY — North Conway Water Precinct commissioners last Wednesday got a report from Fire Chief Pat Preece on the department’s efforts in combating the April 30 fire that destroyed the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort in North Conway.
That section of the hotel was built in 1971 before sprinklers were required in public buildings, though the core of the Red Jacket is sprinkled because major renovations were done in 1994.
“It’s the same at the Fox Ridge — after they had their fire (Christmas Eve 1993), the core of the building was rebuilt with sprinklers,” said Preece.
The Red Jacket’s owners have said the hotel will remain closed at least for a month and are working on plans for moving forward.
Preece reported to commissioners that 28 departments responded to the blaze that destroyed 70 rooms and forced out 155 guests, with some having to climb down onto balconies below.
Commissioners praised Preece and the department for their work to prevent any loss of life, with Commissioner Suzanne Nelson saying: “I would like to commend everyone for doing such an outstanding job. It was obviously a very, very difficult day not only for for North Conway Fire but for everyone else who responded and I'd like to thank everyone for everything that they did.”
She commended the community for their response as well, noting that people offered donated goods and local lodging establishments put up Red Jacket guests for the night.
“How proud people are of our community that they came out. Restaurants helped out with hotels, people got on Facebook asking for clothes ... I mean it was just really, really impressive. You know, people have a lot of pride in this community with their response. So thank you to everyone,” said Nelson.
Preece is compiling a narrative of the fire from department members to present to commissioners and then to legal counsel, which he said is standard protocol after a large fire. He is also making a list of equipment that was damaged or lost during the fire, such as hoses, hand tools and a thermal imager. The list will then be filed as an insurance claim.
During the meeting, Nelson and her fellow commissioners John Santuccio (chair) and Bob Porter took part in a discussion with Preece on whether to address similar older properties in town that met fire codes for when they were built but which remain without sprinklers.
“Do I believe the village should be sprinkled professionally?" Preece asked rhetorically. "Yes. But how do you get that to happen?
"I think we have three-story hotels, we probably have one or two left that need to be sprinkled. But a portion of their buildings are sprinkled," he added..
He said that RSA 153: 5 State Fire Code Rules allows older buildings to remain un-sprinkled.
“The precinct or the town has the option to create ordinances to change to make recommendations for them to be sprinkled. But then that's a major cost effect for the business owners,” said Preece.
He said he was planning to meet with the owner of an older hotel in North Conway this week to go over fire safety.
“If the owners do it themselves, it's a lot easier than the town creating regulations or the precinct creating regulations," said Preece.
He said older properties are compliant with the fire codes to when they were built. “So they fall under the existing code. And everything is maintained. So if you did a major renovation, they would have to bring it up to the new code — it's like 50 percent of the value or more (spent on a renovation),” said Preece.
Santuccio said the board had not yet discussed the issue. "But we will," he promised.
Town Engineer Paul DegliAngeli said in addition to hotel properties, the discussion ought to also include short-term rentals in Conway and whether the town needs to institute residential inspections.
“We’ve been talking about a large hotel, but in my mind, I am thinking short-term rentals because that is going to be the next fire,” said DegliAngeli.
Preece concurred, saying he had spoken to selectmen about the need for addressing life safety fire codes for short-term rentals for egress, windows, kitchen safety, etc. “These are things that we do not have the authority to do yet,” he noted.
“Most people would be astonished to know in the Conways there is no residential building inspection," DegliAngeli said.
"It’s a real problem. I think a committee involving the town and fire departments ought to meet sooner rather than later,” he added.
Nelson agreed. “I am totally anti-regulation, but there are times when you just have to have them,” she said.
Preece said he spoke with U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) after the fire and he said one of the topics they discussed was whether there could be federal grants to help business owners bring older buildings up to code.
“I did tell her I would come to D.C. to testify to hep facilitate a grant program or a low-interest loan program. So many of these business owners need the financial help to do that,” said Preece.
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