Just playing Devil's advocate. But for a few locations no sprinkler system is required. Therefore any would be a tremendous improvement.
A vast majority of the fires in homes (well anywhere) don't start in concealed spaces. Therefore focusing on the probability seems reasonable when the goal is only life safety. Even lowly 13D systems still put out a lot of fires even though not designed for that. Therefore focusing on the probability seems reasonable. Story suggests it's a paid FD which usually are closer in response time than volunteer departments. Therefore one would expect even if the 13D didn't put out the fire the FD would be close and have a better chance of suppressing. And I'm rather sure the fire doesn't know it's in a 2,000 sq.ft. home or 4 story apartment or 200,000 sq.ft. home. Any incipient fire and even well-developed stage has nothing to do with the size of the building. Sure the time it takes to burn to the ground would be different but that's obviously something sprinkler designs don't care about. I have personally had a house fall on me and my FF crew from a fire in the attic. It wasn't sprinklered. I have also had large sections of ceiling come down on me from water and no apparent fire in the area. Fortunately, in both cases the worst injury was a sprained ankle, not me. This firefighter was just really, really, really unlucky that day, but I can see how it could happen. I believe questioning the sprinklers in this case might be a bit over reaching. The exact same thing would have happened had this been a plumbing line. Questioning the cause of the fire and installation of the fire place(or whatever it is) seems more justified. Tolerance for people "accidently" having a fire is also a contributing factor. Build as a fire hazard or leave the oil on the stove why you sleep one off are not prosecuted as crimes unless you kill someone. Maybe if there were more penalties for 'accidents' this would have been avoided in the first place. I'll admit I've gone back and forth on the issue of setting a size limit on NFPA 13D. In the big picture I can see both sides of the argument. Starting to slightly lean towards leaving the limits out. The reality vs. an unsprinklered house of any size and a 13D I'd take 13D every time. We lose way more in these big houses if we lose sprinklers altogether vs. 13 systems for the rare attic problem. I'd venture a guess we'd get more freeze ups and losses that way than fires in the attics. You know what happens when a rich owner gets their stuff wet from a freeze up. Many City Councils would cave on the sprinkler requirement altogether if they could to appease the public. Remember gazillion dollar houses pay bazillion in taxes every year. Once it's in the attic in an unsprinkered situation the house and contents are a total loss in nearly all cases. FD's take their shinny expensive toys and put on a great show for those who paid for said toys. Burning it down slow for some reason gives the public a sense of confidence. I think the other question is who designed the life and property protection scope. Not who designed the sprinklers. There is no suggestion the design played any part. Chris Cahill, PE* Senior Fire Protection Engineer, Aviation & Facilities Group Burns & McDonnell 8201 Norman Center Drive Bloomington, MN 55437 Phone: 952.656.3652 Fax: 952.229.2923 [email protected] www.burnsmcd.com Proud to be one of FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For *Registered in: MN -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Article: Architect pleads not guilty in firefighter's death So the next question that comes to mind is who designed the "sprinkler" system, a contractor or the architect? Agreed, good old 13D may have been permitted by code, maybe, but it may not have been the most appropriate for the structure. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Mote Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Article: Architect pleads not guilty in firefighter's death More info, article mentions an 18' indoor fire pit. This is another case where 13D may not have been appropriate for a 6000 sq. ft. three story house. http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/02/architect_charged_in_deat.php _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
