Earth Day - Help protect the environment with Fire Sprinklers

Seriously? You bet!

Fire sprinklers are "green". 

Why? Numerous reasons actually. 

Let's start with water conservation. Most fires that grow big enough to activate a fire sprinkler system, are controlled or extinguished by just two fire sprinklers. For easy math, we will say that each sprinkler is discharging 50 gallons of water every minute (50 GPM) [side note: these numbers will vary depending on water supply and sprinkler selection...like I said....for easy math]. 

So two sprinklers would be dischargibg around 100 GPM. That sounds like a lot of water....but it's not.....especially relative to the next part of our comparison. 

The fire is put out by the sprinklers.....it takes ten minutes from when the sprinkler first activated (and subsequently notified the fire department) until the fire department was on scene and shut the sprinkler system off. 1000 gallons to douse the fire. One maybe two fire trucks hit the road for a total of 2 hours of diesel fuel burning. Everyone goes home. Water damage is taken care of. The business that had the fire stays closes for a few hours....then it is business as usual....but they have an awesome story to tell about how the sprinkler system saved the day. 

Here's the comparison. Same fire, yet no fire sprinklers. Fire burns past the incipient (beginning) phase, and starts to get really hot. It burned for about five minutes before anyone noticed and called the fire department. The chief gets there, sees the smoke, and calls for a second alarm. Now you're going to have anywhere from 6-10 fire trucks there, all burning plenty of diesel fuel. Oh, and they are going to be there for quite a while....it's turning out to be one big fire. Let's say, for easy math, they have 10 trucks there for 10 hours. That's 100 hours of engines running. 

Let's look at water usage now. The fire department, on a big working fire, may dump 1000-2000 GPM for a few hours....maybe even more. This could put water usage over the 20,000 gallon mark.

Let's keep going.....when the place burns down, it will need to be demolished. Then rebuilt. That's a lot of vehicle exhaust, and raw material....

So yeah. Sprinklers are green. 

More than you might think. 

321FireProtection.com

Codes are there to protect you, not to be a nuisance

70 people dead. Since 2012, 70 people have died in fires and/or explosions at one Mexican petroleum company. Thee people were killed just yesterday, and another 100+ were injured. 

Here's a link:

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0XH2N2

Where's the outrage?

Imagine if this were to happen in the United States. Would there be outrage? Maybe not to the extent that some of us would expect to see. But I'm sure that some politicians would jump on the "fire safety" band wagon for a short time. 

So why doesn't this type of thing seem to happen too often in the United States? Not saying it doesn't happen. But it doesn't happen too often. And it certainly doesn't happen repeatedly at the same company. 

The reason is that we have regulations, standards, codes, and oversight. All the things that people complain about and tend to think is put in place to make their lives difficult. 

So many codes and standards have been created BECAUSE OF horrible tragedies. That's how we roll in the United States. Somewhat reactive. But hey....at least we do something about it. 

All you have to do is look south towards Mexico to see what happens when a country lacks regulation. Death and destruction? Yeah. Seems to be about right. 

Cheap labor + lack of regulation = Bad. 

Yet this is the exact reason companies like Carrier and Kraft are moving operations south of the border. But that's another story. 

70 dead at one company. And nothing seems to happen....seem legit? 

484-321-FIRE

Got recalls?

Recalled sprinkler heads. They are out there. All over the place actually. 

Why are sprinklers recalled? The biggest reason is that they have been found to NOT WORK. Yes. That's correct. There are NUMEROUS sprinkler heads that have been subject to a recall in the past decade or so. 

You're sprinkler inspection company may have mentioned it to you. Maybe they didn't. Maybe they didn't notice. 

They may have given you a line something like ..."they were voluntarily recalled, it's not required to change them."

That is wrong. If your facility is in an area governed by the International Building Code (most areas are), then you are required to change any parts that have been recalled, voluntarily or not. 

Unfortunately, too many inspectors and inspection companies won't look past the watered down inspection code referred to as NFPA 25.

Don't worry. We at 321 Fire Protection Co. got your back. 

We are more concerned than most companies, when it comes to performing thorough inspections. We will also explain everything that we find. We don't just send you an invoice and then not talk to you for a year. 

We actually want to know that your system is going to work when tibia needed. 

Not sure if you have recalled sprinklers?

Call your current sprinkler company and ask them. Ask them if they need to be changed. See what they say. 

If you don't like their answer, or you feel like you are being talked down to, or they just leave a bad taste in your mouth....hang up....and call 321 Fire Protection Co. 

484-321-FIRE

321FireProtection.com

Be honest--Are you running your fire pump 30 minutes every week?

(30 minutes every week) X (52 weeks per year)=26 Hours. 

Your diesel fire pump is required to be run 26 hours every year. This is not "recommended"....this is "required".

I am amazed at how many buildings that I go into, and I see pumps that are 2, 5, 15 years old.....and they only have 4 hours....8 hours....10 hours....

"I guess you don't run your pump weekly?", is my usual question. 

"Am I supposed to be?", is the usual response. 

Analogy time!!!

Would you leave your car sitting in your garage all year, and then depend on it saving your life when you turn the key on a random night in the middle of the winter....?

And if it doesn't start....bad bad things will happen? Like death and destruction!

"I never thought of it like that!" - Another usual response. 

Unfortunately, most people don't think of it like that. Your current contractor may not even think of it like that. 

From the pictures above. This pump was manufactured in 2011....there is a date code on the data plate. 

This pump, albeit 5 years old, it only has 14.9 hours of run time. 

If you follow our little math lesson at the start of this post, there should be somewhere around 130 hours on this pump. 

Who cares right? It gets tested....obviously....because it has almost 15 hours. 

Well...I'll tell you who cares. Your insurance company cares. The people in the apartment building that this pump protects....they care.  The fire department cares....321 Fire Protection Co. cares. 

You'll really understand how much your insurance company cares when the pump doesn't start when there is a fire. First thing....the very first thing they will ask for is your run log. They will send out their lawyers and consultants....they will see 15 hours on a pump that is 5 years old.....and pretty much deny your claim on the spot. 

Think about that. 

Oh yeah....if anyone dies or gets hurt....their lawyers and their insurance companies lawyers will show how much they care too. Hey, even if someone loses  something....anything of material or personal value.....lawsuit city!!!

The list goes on and on. 

The good news is that you won't be alone. Your fire protection contractor will be right there with you because they didn't provide guidance in the maintenance of your systems. They will be party to the suit. 

A qualified contractor will provide you with the training that you need to keep your systems operating properly. And they will also provide you with peace of mind in knowing that you are doing everything right. 

Do you have that peace of mind now?

By the way....if you have an electric fire pump.....that needs to be run every month....for 10 minutes. There is probably not a run time meter on your electric fire pump, but you still need to keep a log, showing that you run it. 

Believe me. It's easier and cheaper to take care of these things on their prescribed maintenance interval....rather than the alternative of the systems not working when they are needed. 

321FireProtection.com