Grinnell Mutual Tests Home Fire Sprinkler Systems

from prweb

Grinnell Mutual’s Special Investigations Unit releases a video that puts home sprinkler systems to the test in a home fire safety burn cell demonstration.

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The difference between these two burns is obvious. One room is totally gutted by fire. Comparing that to the first cell, you can see the difference that one residential sprinkler head in this room would have made.

Grinnell, IA (PRWEB) March 20, 2013

Two living rooms, two fires, one sprinkler system –Grinnell Mutual shows how quickly home fires grow if not contained by a residential sprinkler system. Join Grinnell Mutual’s Special Investigations Unit as they talk about home fire safety and test the effectiveness of a home sprinkler system in this Grinnell Mutual Talks about Safety videocast.

“What we hope to show is that a sprinkler system within your home buys you and your family time to get out safely if there’s a fire,” said Alan Clark, assistant vice president of Special Investigations.

Grinnell Mutual’s test was conducted using 8 by 10 foot burn cells, each identically furnished as a living room, to simulate a typical residential fire caused by a candle, cigarette, or overheated electrical unit. Sensors were placed in both cells to monitor room temperatures during the test. In the first cell a residential sprinkler was installed at ceiling level. Following ignition, the sprinkler activated when temperatures reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit at the ceiling level. Within five minutes the fire was contained to the couch.

“Damage to this room is fairly minor compared to what will happen in the next,” said Clark. “Although we had fire damage at the end of the couch, there was no damage to the plastic window blinds hanging above the couch. This indicates just how well the residential sprinkler system contained the fire and reduced heat in this room.”

In the second burn cell, a living room without a residential sprinkler was ignited in the same location. In less than five minutes the room reached flashover – the point at which nearly all exposed combustible materials in the room simultaneously ignite – with temperatures nearing 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The difference between these two burns is obvious. One room is totally gutted by fire. The smoke alarm has been destroyed, all the glass in the room is destroyed, the couch is gone, the chair is gone, and the carpet is burned. Comparing that to the first cell, you can see the difference that one residential sprinkler head in this room would have made,” said Clark.

This test was conducted By Grinnell Mutual Special Investigations in conjunction with the Grinnell Fire Department in fall 2012. The results of this test align with current research.

About burn cell demonstrations
Grinnell Mutual’s Special Investigations Unit has held burn cell demonstrations for more than five years as an educational and research tool for fire personnel, insurance professionals, and the public to demonstrate burn patterns, test materials, and show the effectiveness of residential sprinkler systems.

About Grinnell Mutual
In business since 1909, Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company provides reinsurance for mutual insurance companies and property and casualty insurance products through nearly 1,600 independent agents in 12 Midwestern states. Grinnell Mutual is the largest primary reinsurer of farm mutual companies in North America.

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Task force to weigh requiring sprinklers in new apartments

from argusleader.com

Mar 17, 2013   |  

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Beth Wischmeyer

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WHAT: Meeting of the Fire Sprinkler Task Force
WHEN: 9 a.m. April 4
WHERE: Carnegie Town Hall

Cost is the issue at the forefront when it comes to arguments whether fire sprinklers should be required in all newly constructed three- to 15-unit apartment buildings.

The Sioux Falls Fire Sprinkler Task force will study the issue — weighing the potential cost to property owners, cost savings ininsurance if sprinklers are installed and the effect on renters — and make a recommendation to the City Council.

Some Sioux Falls officials say it’s time to put fire sprinklers in apartment buildings, but multihousing unit owners fear the added expense will raise rent for tenants and cause problems if the sprinklers malfunction.

Some property owners argue smoke detectors do more to alert people and ensure they get out of the building safely, and other fire-suppression means, such as two layers of drywall between units, can be used more cost-effectively.

Task force member and Sioux Falls Realtor George Hahn said additional factors also must be considered when building an apartment building which has fire sprinklers, such as a larger-sized water main and additional electrical capacity for water pumps.

“When you start adding that kind of capital cost to the investments, the requirements are higher, the rates of return are lower, the risks skyrocket and financing becomes more difficult,” Hahn said. “Effectively, you put a big damper on new apartment development, and we are very short of housing in this community.”

For 12 years, the city has not followed international requirements for sprinklers in all apartments with three units or more. Instead, a local amendment requires automatic fire-extinguishing systems in multihousing structures that have more than two levels or more than 16 units.

But proponents of fire sprinklers say they are necessary to ensure safety.

“I’m in a wheelchair. If there’s a fire, I live in my house, and I voluntarily sprinkled that, but I’m worried about other people, especially in these apartments, that are elderly, in wheelchairs such as me, or have other physical needs, that if the smoke alarm goes off and there is a fire, they just can’t get up, jump out the window, or run down the hallway to get out,” said Eric Kritzmire of Building Sprinkler Inc., who also is on the task force.

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from firechief.com 

Note from Gary: Ronny Coleman, is the big kahuna of residential fire sprinklers and  germinated the idea of residential fire sprinkler systems in California. He helped to define the idea of using residential sprinklers to fight the unyielding number of fire deaths in homes. He wrote a book about residential fire sprinklers and from his position as fire chief for the coastal community of San Clemente, to the state Fire Marshall for California, Chief Coleman has always been a strong advocate for the common sense idea of using the same technology that has served business for over a hundred years to make a dent in the unyielding tragedy of residential fire death.  After leaving Microsoft to sell residential fire sprinkler systems, I quickly learned that he was the God Father of fire sprinklers in the home. My hat is off to this outspoken advocate and American citizen.
  

Misting systems show the next step in fire sprinkler evolution

Mar. 15, 2013Ronny Coleman | Fire Chief

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The letter “G” often is used behind a number to indicate the generation of something, for example a 4G cellphone network. A new number usually means that the previous generation soon will be obsolete, which isn’t a bad thing if you don’t care about being on the cutting edge.

What digit would be in front of the “G” for today’s fire sprinklers? The sprinkler system has undergone amazing transformation over the last 150 years, and people continually are finding more ways to use sprinkler technology to limit the fire problem.

Sonny Scarff — a longtime sprinkler advocate — recently retired from the Marriott International as the senior director of fire protection. In October, Scarff demonstrated to more than 200 fire-service participants a new generation of fire sprinklers at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute.

The Minifog EconAqua water-misting system applies extinguishing water through special nozzles or sprinklers, multiplying the total surface area many times through fine droplet formation. The water entrains the heat from the fire, so its base and surroundings are cooled immediately. The evaporation also captures a great deal of additional latent heat, while the steam impedes the supply of oxygen to the base of the fire. The reduction of the oxygen concentration in the immediate vicinity of the flame zone results in an additional smothering effect. The arrangement of the nozzles and the optimal droplet formation mean that the base of the fire is reached, even still if there are inhibiting factors, such as thermal currents or air movement.

The demonstration highlighted the generational differences sprinkler technology. The first generation of sprinklers produced large droplets and relatively low pressures. The second generation, the residential sprinkler system, responded faster and dealt with the products of combustion. The third generation, the high-pressure misting systems, produced small droplets under high pressures.

The new generation uses relatively low or medium pressures but produces a more mist-like distribution pattern. It’s design operates with the premise that it’s better to put a small amount of water on a fire in its early stages, rather than wait until the fire gets bigger and requires larger volumes of water. With a minimum supply pressure of 72 psi, the Econ Aqua sprinkler head flows 8.2 gpm, compared to the 7 psi and 16 gpm of a classic residential head. Test results indicate that this system uses up to 85% less water than conventional fire sprinklers.

Scarff believes that this generation of fire protection has price advantages over conventional sprinkler systems, plus it provides the advantages of a system that uses a minimum amount of water to achieve the objective of restraining the fire. Each day, attendees witnessed two live-fire demonstrations. Video and thermal-imaging camera footage was captured, as was instrumentation of the fire environment. Data was collected on room temperature, oxygen level and carbon-dioxide levels.

A 10-minute public-education video based on the demonstration currently is in production. For more information, contact Scarff at 240-529-2228 orroborsonny@yahoo.com. Also, for videos of the Minifog EconAqua, visithttp://Minimax.en/.

A major difference between the creation of a new generation of sprinklers versus other technologies is that while each generation of sprinklers evolves to address specific fire problems, it does not void the justification for the previous generation. Every stage of the evolution of fire sprinklers has resulted in the systems being more applicable to solve a specific fire problem. Commercial and residential sprinklers are different — and they ought to be. In our case, a new generation does not mean obsolescence, but rather that we are building upon a capacity to attack America’s fire problem where it all begins, at the point of ignition.