> I swear I must have this conversation about once a week if not more > sometimes with those who have the perception of sprinkler systems as > drippy, false tripping deluge systems of destruction.
A common problem. We just had a home (pre-dating our residential sprinkler ordinance) where a kitchen fire caused $250K+ worth of damage - mostly heat and smoke damage throughout the entire 5,300 square foot home, but the only actual fire damage was the kitchen cabinets and the area immediately around the wall oven. Homeowner said that, had they had one of the new houses with sprinklers, the damage would be so much worse. Not the time for a sprinkler lesson, but I couldn't let it go without comment. I explained the likely outcome with a sprinkler system and with hope they might actually install sprinklers as part of the repair. > the applicable codes where it says they can. They also need to > comprehend that smoke detectors are not fire Protection, they are just > Detection. That's another misconception. We emphasize that sprinklers are fire suppression. As a kid in the fire service, we constantly heard sprinklers called the "iron firefighters" on duty 24/7. We've had similar problems with computer rooms and those " false tripping deluge systems of destruction". In one facility, the sprinklers for the computer room were all removed and plugged back in the 1970's. New tenant, same computer room - they went back and reinstalled the sprinklers. In reality, it is an education issue. The problem is that when we "experts", via our consensus standard, allow the omission of sprinklers in these spaces. Aren't we feeding into the mindset that the sprinklers will inevitably cause a headache for the property owner? Jim Kettler Fire Marshal
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