Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Lafayette, IN – Fire at assisted living facility extinguished by sprinkler system May 19, 2016 viking210 Inspectors say a fire at an assisted living facility last week could have been deadly if not for the building’s sprinkler system. The fire started Friday inside a room at Digby Place, a Lafayette senior living community. When crews got there, the sprinklers had already extinguished the fire. It made it easier to get to the person inside and out of the room. Lafayette Fire Inspector Brian Alkire says sprinkler systems are mandatory in these types of facilities, but not in single family homes. He says the Digby Place fire is a perfect example of why homeowners should install sprinklers. “It’s a very cost-effective, life-saving measure that we’d like to get out that’s relatively cheap for newly constructed homes,” Alkire said. The National Fire Protection Association said sprinklers reduce home fire deaths by 80 percent and reduce property loss by 70 percent. Inspectors say they are 1 percent of the total cost to build a house.
