Building contractors, school officials and the state fire marshal's office came to satisfactory agreement Tuesday on fire-safety issues at Hunter High School, just in time to keep the school open.
Fire Marshal Lynn B. Borg notified Superintendent Loren G. Burton that the school - the newest in Granite District - would be closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday if there was no assurance that the automatic sprinkling system would be brought up to code. The school is at 4200 S. 5600 West.Frank Willardsen, Granite assistant superintendent over administrative services, said Tuesday that after "hours of conference calls" among the parties involved, an acceptable plan of action had been approved.
"An arrangement has been reached with the contractor, and the fire marshal has agreed," Willardsen said. Hunter's summer community education and recreation programs will continue while the sprinkling system is upgraded, he said. The work is expected to be completed in time for the re-opening of school this fall.
Willardsen said he believes the district won't have to bear any of the financial cost of upgrading the fire safety system.
The Hunter safety issue has been simmering since fall 1991, shortly after the school opened, when the fire marshal advised the school district that the sprinkling system was inadequate to provide safety assurance for the school.
The notification of deficiencies created a debate among a subcontractor, fire engineers, the contractor, Culp Construction, and Granite officials as to who was responsible for resolving the problem.
The marshal's office said the sprinkling system did not take into account fluctuating water pressures at different times of the year. The subcontractor said current codes were followed in the installation.
In the interval, some of the problems have been resolved, according to the fire marshal's letter to Burton, but of 13 areas of the school identified as having problems, five remain out of compliance.
The fire marshal's letter indicated that his office "made concessions" on some of the deficiencies, including irrigation and culinary water connections.