Fire Alarm System Still Delaying Staples Permit

By TINA DAUNT

Feb. 1, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

More than three months after opening its doors to the public, the new Staples Center is still operating on a temporary occupancy permit because the building’s complex fire alarm system, with thousands of devices, is not working.

To keep the fire marshal from closing their building, Staples executives have been paying city fire inspectors to watch for signs of danger and, should it be necessary, manually activate the alarm system during events at the downtown facility.

There have been no problems so far, but Fire Marshal Jimmy H. Hill said Monday that he wants Staples officials to step up the work required to make sure the fire alarm system functions on its own. Until about a week ago, Hill said, Staples was allowing the process to “drag on.”

“I don’t think [Staples executives] have been totally focused on all the issues,” Hill said. “They should be really working feverishly on this.”

He said that during December, about 120 Fire Department workers were deployed to keep watch at the facility, presenting a significant drain on his department’s staff.

The delay is also proving costly to Staples. During the past two months alone, Hill said, the facility has paid the city fire officials more than $100,000 to keep vigil during public events. Staples officials say they hope to have the alarm certified as working by mid-February, allowing them to secure a permanent certificate of occupancy.

“We are anxious to get it done,” said Staples Center President Tim Leiweke, adding that the complexity of the alarm system has made it difficult to comply with the fire code. Each of the 25,000 components of the system must be tested individually.

“This is not a simple system we are dealing with,” he said. “We are dealing with a system that will mass-evacuate 19,000 to 20,000 people. It is unique compared to any other system.”

He said that because there are six fire inspectors on hand at all public events, the building is “beyond safe.”

“We have six people here every night,” he said. “Any little mistake--I mean a box in an exit where it’s not supposed to be, a seat in an aisle--it’s all brought to our attention.

“We even had to haul away our office Christmas tree because they felt it was unsafe. There aren’t that many buildings that have this kind of scrutiny.”

Even so, Councilman Joel Wachs, a member of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, said he will call for an inquiry into the Staples situation to ensure that the building is safe.

He said he also wants to make sure that Staples is paying the full rate for city fire inspectors. “I would like a full accounting,” said Wachs, a mayoral candidate.

Hill said it is not unusual for building owners to open with only a temporary occupancy permit, pending certification of their fire alarm systems.

“It gives them an opportunity to basically get in, even though the building may still have some deficiencies,” he said. “They can fix things up in a short period of time.”

Problems arise, however, when the process takes weeks or even months to complete. The last time Hill recalls a building taking this long to comply with fire codes was seven years ago, when the new Central Library opened without finishing its alarm system.

“They had already printed brochures and they weren’t ready either,” Hill said.

As a result, he said, fire inspectors spent a “considerable” amount of time there making sure the building was safe for the public.