Scott: I was not saying that the Fire Dept. wasn't good at evaluating sprinkler systems!
What we were talking about is that ambiguous Number 1/16,000,000 or 1/250,000 for the accidental failure rate of fire sprinklers. This is an extrapolation or cognitive estimate at best, since we don't even know how many fire sprinkler heads are installed each year, how can we develop a reasonable percentage that fail? Accidental failure of a sprinkler head in a large Gym. FDP responds to the alarm. Arrives on site, no fire! Turns off the water, and maybe even helps clear out the water all over the wood gym floor. Who's looking for that link or bulb or seal from that sprinkler head? (Right! No ONE!) It will most likely be swept out the door or down the nearest drain. While the head frame may show signs of the cause of the accidental failure, it very well may not. I can tell you from actual experience that even when sent off to a lab of the brand's MFG. the evidence may very well prove "Inconclusive" 6 months later. What I meant to say in the original post was that no fire dept has the money time or training (or for that matter the need) to replicate the labs used by the sprinkler head MFG to determine the cause of an accidental discharge. Origins of FIRE's ?? Yeah they are really good at that. Manual Suppression?? Yeah that too. Fire prevention?? Some more than others. What caused this particular sprinkler head to accidentally discharge in a non fire situation? Maybe not so much. NO fire departments out there qualified to evaluate sprinkler systems. That statement, while perhaps true in its attempt to brush a particular hue across an enormous canvas, does not encompass the many exceptional, remarkable and outstanding individual departments that excel at: sprinklers, fire prevention, cause and origin, in addition to good old fashioned manual suppression. _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
