FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fire Sprinklers - A Huge Success Story
As the nation recovers from the disaster that recently occurred in
Charleston South Carolina where nine firefighters lost their lives in a
furniture store fire, it is interesting to note that at a similar fire
occurred in Ormond Beach yesterday with a dramatically different
outcome.
The Wednesday night fire at Modernage Furniture demonstrates the
effectiveness of automatic fire sprinklers in providing life safety and
property protection. According to Ormond Beach Fire Chief Barry Baker
"not to discount the need for proper firefighter training and staffing,
fire sprinklers are your best friend in controlling fires. They are
efficient, effective and essential to protecting lives and property."
Firefighters were dispatched to the Modernage Furniture store at 445
South Yonge Street in Ormond Beach at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
night Upon arrival firefighters found a small fire within the showroom
being held in check with the buildings automatic fire sprinkler system.
The fire was caused by discarded smoking material according to the state
fire marshal investigator. The damage was limited to a small area of
approximately 10 X 10 resulting in approximately $8,000 dollars in
damage. Three sprinkler heads activated.
This is a great sprinkler success story states Mike Garrett Building
Official/ Fire Marshal for Ormond Beach. "The buildings sprinkler
system did its job. There were no fatalities, no injuries, and a very
small amount of property damage. With some minor clean up the business
will be back up and running in a day or so. This is a great example of
how sprinklers help with business continuity."
According to the National Fire Protection Association:
Properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler systems help
save lives. Because fire sprinkler systems react so quickly, they can
dramatically reduce the heat, flames and smoke produced in a fire. Fire
sprinklers have been around for more than a century, protecting
commercial and industrial properties and public buildings, such as
hotels and hospitals and high-rises.
When sprinklers are present, the chances of dying in a fire are reduced
by 50-75% and the average property loss per fire is cut by 50-66%,
compared to fires where sprinklers are not present
NFPA has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a
completely sprinklered public assembly, educational, institutional or
residential building where the system was working properly.
Sprinklers are highly reliable. When present in the fire area, they
operate in all but 7% of fires large enough to activate the system.
Human error was a factor in almost all of the failures. The system was
shut-off in almost two-thirds of the failures.
This fire incident clearly demonstrates the effectiveness and value of
built-in fire protection. Quite often building and fire officials are
asked; Why does my building need sprinklers? Or told; our building
budget does not include funding for fire sprinklers. While most
building and fire codes require sprinkling of larger commercial
buildings, fire and building officials still get resistance from
builders and developers who only view the short term and tend to ignore
fire safety. In reality most fire sprinkler systems cost about as much
as carpeting and with proper insurance credits can pay for itself in 7
to 10 years.
Barry Baker, Ormond Beach Fire Chief
