San Rafael Fire Department staff told the Fire Commission that a residential garage fire on Oct. 25 was extinguished by an in-home sprinkler system before firefighters arrived, and that operational training at a local hotel uncovered issues with the dry standpipe system that required correction.

"The fire sprinkler system extinguished it before firefighters arrived," Staff (Chief's office) (Speaker 5) said, noting the fire was limited to bags of debris in the garage and the sprinkler protected the structure so occupants were able to return home with minimal damage.

Commissioners asked whether single-family home sprinkler systems are inspected routinely. Staff replied inspections are not required by code for single-family dwellings in San Rafael; commercial and multi-family systems have regular inspection requirements performed by a qualified fire sprinkler contractor and documented in a report submitted to the fire department and ISO for insurance grading.

Staff also described operational drills organized by Training Officer Captain Jimmy Alvarez at the Embassy Suites. During a drill that tested firefighters working with built-in protection systems, staff discovered what "appeared to be a code violation to the dry standpipe system." The department investigated, met with hotel staff and recommended modifications; Embassy Suites has been cooperative and is addressing the items.

Staff emphasized the value of operational drills to find issues that might not be apparent during a standard walk-through: "You don't find these things unless you're doing an activity like that," Staff (Speaker 5) said. Training will continue at other buildings to identify and correct similar issues.

Next steps: the department will continue targeted training in high-risk buildings and monitor Embassy Suites' remediation. The transcript includes Q&A clarifying inspection processes and the local ordinance that triggers sprinkler requirements for major remodels (remodel/expansion exceeding 50% of floor area in a three-year period).