$6 per square foot would have saved 100 people.

$6/sq ft. 

Whoah. 

We can't justify spending THAT kind of money for a sprinkler system. We probably won't ever even need it. F**k that!

13 years today 100 people died a horrible death. Knocked over, trampled, suffocated, choked, lungs burnt, burned alive.....don't look at the picture at the bottom of this post if you can't handle seeing dead bodies laying where they took their last breath. Straight from the photo archives of the Station Nightclub fire in Warwick, RI. 

A lot of things went wrong that night, as is the case with catastrophes. It's never just one thing. 

A lot of codes had been violated. But nobody cares until it's too late. 

People that know me, or know of me, might think I'm a little over the top when it comes to life safety codes. I don't really care. Because when it comes down to it, codes are there for your protection. I like to bring things to light. I like to open people's eyes. 

Back to $6/ sq ft. That's about what it would cost to have had a fire sprinkler system installed at The Station Nightclub. 

Yeah. Maybe more, depending on some variables. The sky is the limit, depending on what you want....bells and whistles. 

Don't forget about my previous post regarding the nightclub fire in a Minneapolis nightclub three days before The Station....where nobody died, in a very similar event. (Ridiculously similar actually).

Let me tell you this. You CAN afford it. You can't afford NOT to install fire sprinklers.

Plain and simple. 

321FireProtection.com

484-321-FIRE

The nightclub fire that didn't kill anyone.

Thirteen years ago today (2/17/2003) there was a fire in a nightclub that almost nobody knows about. 

Flash forward......The Station Nightclub burned down and killed 100 people, injuring hundreds more (physically and emotionally) 13 years ago this Saturday, Feb. 20 (2003).

Three days before that, there was a fire, in a nightclub, caused by pyrotechnics inside, that lit the combustible sound foam on fire (EXACT SAME SITUATION as the Station fire) in Minneapolis, MN. 

Here is a link to the story:

http://firesprinklerassoc.org/Night%20Club%20Occupancies.htm

Nobody died. 

Why?

Because the fire sprinkler system DID IT'S JOB!

You've probably never even heard about it. I can almost guarantee that. 

Because when fire sprinklers do their job....buildings don't burn down. And when buildings don't burn down, and people don't die, it doesn't make a good news story. 

A properly designed, installed, serviced, inspected, and maintained fire sprinkler system has ONE job....to save lives and property. 

Don't be part of the next big news story about a fire that kills someone. 

321FireProtection.com

484-321-FIRE

Ignorance is bliss

I met a guy yesterday whose house burned down over six years ago.

He had no working smoke detectors. No sprinkler system. He had a cat. A cat that woke him up in the middle of the night when his house started to fill with smoke. His dishwasher, that unknowingly to him had been recalled because it had a risk of catching fire, had caught fire. 

Six years later, he is living in a trailer, in front of his home. His burned out house has been torn down, and a new home erected in its place. 

Wait. Did you say he is living in a trailer in front of his home? Yes. Yes I did. 

Why you ask?

Because for the last six years, he has been in a court fight with his insurance company, and his bank, and probably some other parties that are usually involved in cases like this. He has lawyer bills in excess of $150,000. He has a brand new home, waiting to be finished so that he can move in. He has a temporary trailer that he has been living in, seemingly permanently.  

Just an all around disaster.

So, being in the fire protection industry, what's the first thing I ask him about his new home? Of course! 

"Are you installing fire sprinklers in your new home?"

"No. They are too expensive!"

I didn't say anything. I wasn't surprised. It's not the first time that I have heard someone who has been burned out of their house give that response to that very same question. 

Ignorance is bliss. 

I made sure to mention, as the evening went on, the benefits of fire sprinklers, and how they work, and how they prevent disasters, and how they save lives, and how they.....have many many benefits. 

I didn't direct my attention to him though. It was simply general discussion with everyone at the gathering. 

I did say something along the line of "$2.25 per square foot to install a fire sprinkler system when you are having a house built is the best money you could spend."

I don't blame people for being ignorant when it comes to fire sprinklers. I have been in the industry for over 20 years, so yes, I know about them. 

When I talk about sprinklers to people, they are usually amazed when I start throwing out statistics....like how fire sprinklers are "green" because the minimal water flowing form a few sprinklers that extinguish or control a fire PALES IN COMPARISON to the water that a fire department will flow.....plus the man hours that it takes to put a fire out using multiple fire departments, and the diesel fuel that is burned while the 20+ fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, etc are running for hours upon hours. 

Or the environmental effect of the water runoff from the firefighting operation....etc. etc. etc. 

"No. They are too expensive."