Public hearing today on fire sprinklers

     Fire sprinklers could soon be required in all commercial and industrial buildings.  Senator David Thomas has proposed a bill and is seeking input from the public as well as experts.  According to his Chief of Staff Mary Riley, Thomas' bill is in response to several incidents recently ranging from the Ocean Isle Beach house fire that killed several college students from USC and Clemson, the furniture store fire that killed nine Charleston firefighters, the Greenville hotel fire, and a recently released Associated Press report that more firefighters were killed in SC last year than any other state.
     The meeting is open to the public and begins today at 11 a.m. in Room 308 in the Gressette building near the statehouse in Columbia.