Chief of the Fire Department v. Allard

In 1987 the city of Lynn accepted G. L. c. 148, § 26H, inserted by St. 1986, c. 265, a statute that requires lodging houses and boarding houses in municipalities that accept the statute to be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system. The defendants own lodging houses or boarding houses in Lynn and were ordered by the chief of the fire department to install such systems by August 18, 1988. When they (and other boarding-house owners who have not appealed) failed to do so, the fire chief filed this *129complaint for equitable relief. A judge of the Superior Court heard the fire chiefs application…