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Fire demonstration shows importance of sprinklers
Donna Swicegood photo
Fire engulfed a room without a sprinkler system in less than three minutes.
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Published: October 22, 2009
In less than three minutes, the small room was overrun by thick black smoke and flames, making survival for anyone who would be inside seemingly impossible.
The stark demonstration showed what happens to a room when fire erupts, especially a room not protected by a sprinkler system.
A few minutes later, an identical room was set ablaze in the same manner as the first, except this time, about a minute and a half into the fire, the sprinkler kicked in, quickly extinguishing the flames.
The demonstration was sponsored by the Mooresville Fire Department and was aimed at showcasing the importance of sprinkler systems in residential structures.
Mooresville Fire Chief Wes Greene, a longtime vocal proponent of residential sprinklers, said the two fires are proof positive that such systems not only save property, but lives.
Fire Marshal Gary Styers, who helped put the demonstration together, said smoke detectors, while vital, are a passive way to address house fires.
"It's just going to tell you there's a fire," he said. A sprinkler will extinguish the blaze before it reaches the deadly flashover stage.
In staging the demonstration, two identical rooms were built, one with a sprinkler and the other without. Both were furnished with a sofa, a plastic trash can and a cabinet.
Styers said no ignition materials were used to start the blazes, only trash materials discarded in the cans. The materials were set ablaze and the fire spread to the curtains and the nearby couch.
In the first room, without a sprinkler, Styers said, the threshold was six minutes – the average response time for a fire department to reach a blaze.
At 2 minutes, 40 seconds, the room was engulfed. "The fire department's still three minutes away," Styers said.
Just before the 3-minute mark, Styers asked the firefighters to put out the blaze.
He said anyone inside that room would likely have died before the fire reached the flashover stage.
The second fire was set in the same manner. At 1 minute, 42 seconds, the sprinkler was activated, filling the room full of water and all but extinguishing the fire.
The room sustained very little damage, just to the curtains, trash can and edge of the couch.
Styers said the sprinkler does cause water damage, but not nearly as much as a fire crew dumping water onto a blaze. He said the damages from a fire will be much more costly than the small amount of water damage from a sprinkler system.
Both Green and Styers said the cost of a sprinkler system in a new home is minimal — about 2 percent of the cost of the house. Installing one will add to the value of the house and will likely result in a reduction in fire insurance rates, Styers said.
"It's a sobering demonstration," he said.
The Mooresville Fire Department was assisted in the demonstration by Lowe's Corp., Affordable Fire Protection and Shepherds Volunteer Fire Department, which hosted the event.
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