Whats the deal with SASCO

Well, ya know what they say, No good deed goes unpunished.

Maybe they could d> That could get weird, because if there ends up being work done, my

Reply to
Transtar60
Loading thread data ...

Knowing what condition the SASCO building is in, someone said the electrical fire started from a leaky roof. Sprinklers would solve that, but South Bend is cold and you need heat to keep the pipes from freezing. Heat costs money and it is hard to contain when there are numerous missing windows. (Same problem that got them in trouble at the old place.) Then you are back to the leaky roof and the electrical issue. I can't picture the city doing much of anything, as they have enough problems with deteriorated housing-stock, diminishing tax base, bums, crime and drugs. It probably hit bottom recently, when the bums were killing one another over 'scrap salvage rights'. All of this was written about in the South Bend Tribune months ago. Now, of what houses were occupied, they are facing new problems from sub-prime loan defaults and predatory lenders. A reporter for the Tribune had classed their tour of the whole run-down area as their: "Tragical Misery Tour". Even the Aldermen and city officials were shocked as to just how bad it all was, until the 'tour'. The entire city is on life support. If they are SASCO's slumlord, they really need to back off, as those buildings don't knock themselves down overnight either and especially not for free, once condemed. I have no pity for slum landlords and 'South Bend as a city' knows first hand that rental units in general, contributed greatly to the overall ride down the slippery slope.

Reply to
keith_kichefski

I thought the entire building was under a constant fire watch, seeing how the Central Fire Station is almost directly across the street? I guess distance to the closest fire station only counts on homeowner's policies.

Reply to
Kevin Wolford

Such is phohibited by the US constitution (Ex post facto).

SASCO is grandfathered and if they stand their ground, they'll win any court challenge.

There is no widespread danger to the public here.

JT

Brooksie wrote:

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

Sort of like the drug deals that go on constantly within eye sight of the Austin central police HQ.

JT

Kev> I thought the entire building was under a constant fire watch, seeing how

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

I actually spoke to Dennis earlier today to see if there was any advice I could offer. It sounds like they already have a "dry" sprinkler system, which is what they should have in an unheated building. The whole issue centers around things that SB wants Dennis to do that he doesn't see the cash available *to* do, and I'm guessing that he probably doesn't want me to explain any farther than that until there is some kind of resolution to the situation.

nate

Reply to
N8N

I have one of my "dumb" ideas again.

Given what folks are saying about the decaying of South Bend, and the lack of businesses etc. Isn't there a nice simple building like an old supermarket where Dennis can move the stuff to? Free standing, away from the OLD WRECK STRUCTURES, with parking and possibly not have to worry about all these code things?

A friend of mine Hal Carstens, who publishes Railroad Model Crafsman was on a NY bound AMTRAK train when the fire was going. They were stopped for close to six hours. He wrote me about it. He did get a refund for his delay.

All kidding aside, why is Dennis forced to stay in an area that is literally falling down around him. Is there a rule he must occupy a Studebaker building? Why not try and find something that is semi-complete, recently vacated, and while I have no idea of what SB looks like, put him in a better area. Once in a lnew location they can tear down what it is they want down, demolish, blow up, use as a movie set, level or nuke the place, and let the guy do his business.

I know....another dumb idea.

BG

Reply to
Bill Glass

I'm just guessing that unless the city were to pick up the bill, it would probably cost another large chunk of $$ to re-move all the inventory. And if the city *were* picking up the tab, probably just as easy for them to pay for the repairs to the engineering building.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

IIRC, isn't that some sort of a "deluge" system? We had the same set up in unheated shipbuilding structures.

JT

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

The last time that I was in the building, I felt that it was structurally sound. That does not mean that it does not require some maintenance but since it's owned by the city, they should be showing some flexibility here.

Did I ever mention that I hate bureaucrats 'n politicians?

JT

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

Similar, but different. A deluge system is basically a preaction system but instead of being double-interlocked (i.e. uses both a fire alarm panel with smoke detectors AND heat-sensitive sprinkler heads) the deluge system has dry pipes with OPEN sprinkler heads, and simply when the detectors detect smoke (or fire; you could also use UVIR flame detectors if you wanted to, although I'm not sure that application is UL listed) anywhere in the area then it just opens a solenoid and water flows out of *all* heads, hence the name.

I guess now I have to define pre-action system as well... pre-action is a special type of dry-pipe system that requires both loss of air pressure (keep reading) as well as release of a solenoid by the FA system to flow water.

A regular dry-pipe system is what you'll commonly find in, say, unheated parking garages. It does not require a fire alarm panel to operate; the only interaction with the FA panel is that the panel monitors the flow, tamper, and air pressure switches of the dry-pipe system. How this one works is that air is compressed, dried, and maintained in the sprinkler pipes. Heads are similar to normal wet pipe sprinkler heads, they have a one-shot thermal element that will open when they see a temperature above its rating (usually 155F IIRC) when this happens, air pressure will be lost, which mechanically opens a flapper in the dry pipe control mechanism allowing water to flow into the pipes, and out the heads that have popped. This allows the system to work pretty much identically to a regular wet pipe sprinkler system, but without actually having water sit in the pipes in unheated areas, which would be bad.

Incidentally, most of the time when you see in the movies/on TV/whatever, a character emptying a building and causing a massive waterfall by holding a lighter under a sprinkler head, that is pure artistic license. Very, very few buildings have deluge systems, and if there were one, one would not trip it by popping a sprinkler head but by alarming an associated smoke detector (or two; it's possible to arrange a deluge system to only flow water if at least one smoke detector on each of two separate detection loops is activated.) Most likely, a heated, occupied building would have a simple wet pipe system and popping a head would result in water flowing out of exactly one head. That should cause the FA system to evacuate the building (or at least three floors of it, in a high-rise,) that much is accurate, but the massive deluge (there's that term again) of water is pure fiction.

a fairly accurate basic summary:

formatting link
nate

(this ends today's basic lesson in sprinkler system technology.)

Reply to
Nate Nagel

snip

Thank you for the informative update. I'm by far not an expert in fire protections with the exception running when it gets too hot!

JT

(Or izzit crawlin'???)

>
Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

not to be the one pissing on parades but since bldg. "remodeled" after calendar 1993 the ADA issues alone could hurt him and they are Federal, not waiveable by state, county, city, etc.

Reply to
oldcarfart

so Dennis can count on you to design & install upgrades as a buddy deal from you and mat'l at your cost??, GO N8!!!!!

Reply to
oldcarfart

It sounds like his issues are more sprinkler than fire alarm, sadly. If it were FA, I could offer some assistance, although really only in an advisory capacity.

nate

Reply to
N8N

hey guys, this post was up here in early April about the city giving Dennis a hard time on the sprinkler system. So, I thought I read that there was some two week "talking period" with Dennis, the city and the bank. That was about three weeks ago, so I guess Sasco is chugging along and will be open this weekend for the meet? No news is good news, but I was just wondering, and somebody else had asked me about it. anybody know? thanks, mel

Reply to
Mel

He's hired a fire watch person to make the city happy until a solution is found.

Mel wrote:

Reply to
John Poulos

Flashbacks of shipboard roving patrol/ firewatch!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply to
oldcarfart

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.