How safe are the island's beach rental properties from fire?

Two dramatic and deadly fires in Charleston and Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., over the past few months could lead to calls for increased fire safety controls and sprinkler requirements for more properties, safety officials say.
Sprinklers are not required in seaside vacation rental homes across the state, including thousands on Hilton Head Island. But some fire experts think they should be.
Questions about fire safety in those structures are popping up after six University of South Carolina and one Clemson student died early Sunday when the Ocean Isle Beach home they were staying in erupted in flames. Six other students escaped the house.
Coupled with the June blaze that consumed a Charleston furniture store and killed nine firefighters, state lawmakers and public safety officials are expected to take a closer look at fire protection requirements, including which structures should use sprinkler systems to help snuff out fires before they get out of hand.
Rental properties on the coast are of particular concern since they often cater to younger crowds and are in places where an ocean breeze can easily spread a blaze.
"Every structure should be 'sprinklered,'" said Tom Barstow, fire chief in North Myrtle Beach, where hundreds of rental cottages line the seashore and marshes. "They are 95 percent effective in controlling or extinguishing a fire prior to the fire department's arrival."
On Hilton Head, only large buildings -- those bigger than 10,000 square feet -- are required to have sprinkler systems, Fire Chief Tom Fieldstead said.
The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce estimates the island has 6,000 vacation homes and villas -- buildings that are constructed like the one in Ocean Isle Beach that burned last weekend, Fieldstead said.
"It's not something that most designers will design into the building unless it's a requirement," Fieldstead said. He said he expects a statewide conversation about those requirements to begin soon.
"There will beginsome push from a state standpoint, I believe, to require sprinklers in a greater number of structures ... ," he said.

In California, 80 cities and counties require sprinkler systems for new private homes, said Steve Hart, former deputy director of the California fire marshal's office. Maryland is also considering a statewide rule for sprinklers on new homes, said Russ Fleming, executive vice president of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, a trade group.
Sprinklers would be especially helpful in the event of a fire in a big beach house, said Matt Davis, president of the N.C. County Fire Marshal's Association and deputy fire chief for New Hanover County, home to Wrightsville Beach.
Such houses are most often built of wood and close to their neighbors in a place where the wind blows almost constantly -- all factors that accelerate the spread of fire. In addition, they're often occupied by renters unfamiliar with the house's layout and who, when awakened by fire, will be disoriented and less likely to find a way out.
Butch Womack, president of the Executive Committee of the South Carolina State Fire Fighters Association, said he also expects a statewide debate on the topic, but he hopes officials don't overcompensate by adding unnecessary regulations.
"I think there will be some more pressure," he said. "I just hope that we're able to take one step at a time to make sure we adequately address the issue rather than just rush in ..."
Other options beyond requiring sprinklers may be better, such as conducting another statewide smoke detector campaign or requiring more fire exits, said Womack, also the fire chief for the town of Easley.
State law already requires owners of all rental homes to install and maintain smoke detectors. But Womack said that law is rarely enforced.
While retrofitting beach houses would surely lead to a political fight, experts say it's at least worth considering sprinklers for new single-family houses, whether they are beach rentals or private residences.
That could cost anywhere from $1.50 to $2 per square foot on a new home, estimated Hart, the former deputy director of the California fire marshal's office.
Under that calculation, someone building a 5,000-square-foot house could expect to pay an additional $7,500 to $10,000 for a sprinkler system.
Retrofitting a home would cost slightly more, he said. Beach houses in South Carolina typically sell for $1 million or more. Experts told The (Raleigh) News & Observer the cost of a sprinkler system is about 1 percent of a new home.
Many Hilton Head rental vacation owners avoid renting to college students to protect their properties, said Ray Moloney, president and owner of Beach Properties of Hilton Head, which manages 260 properties. But if owners were required to install sprinkler systems, some may decide to pull their properties off the market, he said.
"If that was a requirement, some may decide not to rent it," he said. "I would think some of the property owners would probably opt not to go for that expense."
The (Columbia) State and (Raleigh) News and Observer contributed to this story.