Pam Laskewitz wants to make one thing perfectly clear.

Wednesday, September 22, 1999

Pam Laskewitz wants to make one thing perfectly clear.

"St. Mark’s Lutheran Home was declared deficiency-free by State Fire Marshall Jerome White on Monday," the director of environmental services for St. Mark’s said. "We meet or exceed all local, state and federal fire codes."

Laskewitz went on to detail many of the nursing homes fire-safety features, which include having sprinklers in 40 percent of the building – something the federal government does not yet require in nursing homes – cement walls in Wings 1-6 and brick in all the dining and communal areas in wings 1-6. Wing 7 has brick outside walls, metal studs and sheet rock throughout and is sprinkled.

Laskewitz made the statement because of concerns a Monday Austin Daily Herald article on water distribution had raised about water flow to St. Mark’s. The timing of White’s inspection was pure coincidence, as inspections are always unannounced.

The article was about a study of Austin’s water distribution done by Bolton & Menk/Jones engineering firm. Overall, the firm concluded that Austin was in good shape water-wise, but made several recommendations for the future.

One of those recommendations concerned St. Mark’s and the needed "fire flow" or water flow needed in case of fire. An ISO insurance rating system had determined that the St. Mark’s area – not only the nursing home as stated in the article – would need 5,000 gallons per minute; considerably more than the stated available amount of 2,400 gpm.

Austin Fire Chief Dan Wilson, contacted Tuesday, pointed out that the last ISO study for Austin was done in 1989, and he questioned the 5,000 gpm figure, saying that figure was extremely high. Wilson said he had "no worries" about the fire flow in the St. Mark’s area, or, in fact, in most of Austin.

Wilson’s comments reflect what the ISO study and the Bolton & Menk/Jones studies said overall about Austin’s water distribution system. Both concluded that the distribution system is excellent, especially for a town of Austin’s age.

It’s getting better all the time, too, according to Austin Utilities Carmel Taylor.

"Austin Utilities has done several things since that ISO report was released to facilitate greater water pressure to the outlying areas – including the St. Mark’s area," Taylor explained.

Austin Utilities director of gas and water distribution Larry Krones explained that the municipal utility had hired the engineering firm to do the study to get a better idea of what long-term goals the water department should be looking at. He stressed that the study was done strictly as a "planning tool, not a model to follow."

"We commission these studies because they are very good at gathering large amounts of information," Krones said. "What they aren’t for is to tell us what’s important and what’s not – we need to make that determination after looking at our own history and verifying the study. We’ll do that over the winter."

The folks at St. Mark’s just want to make sure their residents and the families of their residents know there is nothing to worry about.

"We want to assure everyone that the safety of St. Mark’s residents is always of utmost concern," St. Mark’s resource development director Jann Schroeder said.

"St. Mark’s ensures the safety of all its residents by complying with all applicable fire and building codes. Evacuation procedures, clearly marked and accessible emergency exits, and emergency lighting systems are just a few of the safety systems in place that actually protect the occupants."