City of Georgetown proposes improved fire safety in animal resorts, facilities
GEORGETOWN, Texas - After 75 dogs were killed in a pet resort fire, the City of Georgetown wants to void another incident like that again.
Tuesday, Georgetown City Council approved to move forward with recommendations that would make it mandatory for pet facilities to have a fire alarm system.
Last September, a fire broke out at the Ponderosa Pet Resort leaving 59 families without a dog.
"I lost two of my [dogs] back in September. It was devastating not only to me, but to my family, my friends and the community," said Don Huckins.
Tuesday, the Georgetown City Council met to discuss proposed recommendations from Fire Chief John Sullivan to avoid another tragedy like that again.
"I hope and pray that this never happens again, but if it does happen again, that we have put in the protections that we had to put in to protect all new builds at a really high level," said Councilmember Amanda Parr.
If passed, Chief Sullivan says the proposed changes will require all new builds for animal housing or care facilities with more than 50 animals to install an automatic sprinkler system. If a facility plans to have fewer than 50 animals in their care, the code changes and sprinklers are not required. However, other requirements must be met.
According to Chief Sullivan, an automatic sprinkler system is not required in animal housing or care facilities serving 30 or fewer animals if the walls are finished with something that does not burn easily and there is a supervised fire alarm. For facilities with 30 to 50 animals, there needs to be one hour fire resistive construction on both sides of the boundary walls of the kennel area with walls and ceilings finished and a supervised fire alarm.
There are 59 families who lost their pets in the Ponderosa Pet Resort fire. Many of those owners are now speaking out to ensure things change for future and existing pet facilities so no more animals are killed.
"Animals are not inanimate objects. They are living, breathing, feeling beings who are completely dependent on the decisions we make for them, and they deserve humans to be accountable for a minimum standard of protection. They have no voice. When you know better, you're supposed to do better, and we know better now," said Lakelyn Huckins, who lost her dogs in the fire.
Georgetown City Council approved to move forward with these changes that were originally only for future pet businesses, but they made sure to add in a fire code for existing facilities. If adopted, existing pet resorts will have 18 months to install a monitored fire alarm system. Currently, 17 out of the 23 facilities that fall into this new ordinance do not have one yet.
"For existing businesses, this is a minimum standard, and it's a standard that people do expect to be there, and now they'll ask those questions, and I would love to say that all of our existing businesses at a minimum have a monitored alarm system," said Council member Parr.
Adoption for these changes will take place later this month.
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MORE HEADLINES:
Ponderosa Pet Resort not expected to face fines due to no kennel permit
City of Georgetown proposes improved fire safety in animal resorts, facilities
Fire at Georgetown pet boarding-facility kills all 75 animals inside
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