FIRE SPRINKLERS

While whole room protection – sprinklers or gas systems – is a common choice, there is an argument for thinking smaller; taking fire detection and suppression down to the equipment, enclosures and even the components where a fire is most likely to start. Traditional Fire Suppression Methods A traditional water-based sprinkler system is the most common form of fire protection found in commercial and industrial buildings. They offer reasonable cost, large area protection for entire facilities, safeguarding the structure and personnel by limiting the spread and impact of a fire. Every square foot of the protected area is covered equally regardless of the contents of the space, whether it’s an empty floor or an object with an increased risk of fire. Sprinklers aren’t always the most appropriate choice. Not all fires are extinguished by water of course, and in some cases, water damage can be just as harmful or even more so than the fire. They are an impractical choice for instance for facilities housing anything electrical, such as data centres and server rooms. There is also the risk of accidental activation, with an estimated cost of up to $1,000 for every minute they are left running. Water damage can bejust as harmful or even more so than any fire, so sprinklers may not beappropriate An alternative method to protect whole server rooms and data centres is gas fire suppression, which either suppresses the fire by displacing oxygen (inert) or by using a form of cooling mechanism (chemical/synthetic). These aren’t without risk; in the case of inert gas, oxygen is reduced to less than 15% to suffocate the fire, but must be kept above 12% to avoid endangering the lives of personnel. Similarly, clean agent gas can be toxic in high doses. Targeted Supplementary Fire Suppression There are smaller, focused systems that give the option of highly targeted supplementary fire suppression within fire risk areas. Installing a system directly into the areas most at risk, means that fires can be put out before they take hold and cause serious damage. Both sprinkler and gas systems can contain a fire, but micro-environment or closed space systems are completely automatic, detecting and suppressing the fire so rapidly that activating a sprinkler or gas total flooding system often isn’t necessary. The most popular enclosure fire suppression systems achieve this though the use of a flexible and durable polymer tubing that is routed easily through the tightest spaces. The tubing is extremely sensitive to heat and, because it can be placed so close to potential failure points, detects it and releases the fire suppression agent up to ten times faster than traditional systems. An airline was forced to cancel over 2,000 flights after a “small fire” in one of its data centers Cost-effective Fire Protection Highly customizable, small enclosure fire suppression is specifically designed to protect business critical spaces and equipment. It is typically used inside machinery like CNC machines, mobile equipment like forklifts and inside server rooms and electrical cabinetry but is suitable for any hazard that’s considered to have an elevated fire risk. Some may question the need or cost-effectiveness of protecting micro-environments. However, examples abound of where fires that have started at component level have gone on to cause damage of the highest magnitude, and the cost of downtime can be crippling to many time-sensitive facilities and processes. An airline was forced to cancel over 2,000 flights in August 2016 when what was described as a “small fire” in one of its data centers ultimately led to a computer outage. The cost of that small fire, and the domino effect that quickly escalated from it, has since been announced as $150m. Admittedly that number is unusually high - the average cost of a data centre outage today is estimated at a more conservative $730,000 – but this is still an expense businesses can ill afford. Preventing Major Losses Staying with the transport industry, newer metros systems have redundant systems in place to prevent interruptions. However, older metro lines, such as the one in New York City, have experienced electrical fires that started small, but grew to such a magnitude that service was affected for months. Older metro lines, suchas New York City's, haveexperience electricalfires that start small butgrew exponentially Equally - happily - there are also many instances where the installation of small enclosure fire suppression has prevented disaster. A wind energy customer experienced a fire in a turbine converter cabinet. The loss of the cabinet was valued at over $200,000 and disabled the turbine for six weeks. Following investment in fire suppression systems inside the electrical cabinet, a subsequent fire was detected and suppressed before major damage could be caused. The cost on this occasion was therefore limited to a $25,000 component and downtime was less than two days. In the manufacturing world, CNC machines are valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars and need to be constantly operational to justify the investment. Oil coolant used in the machines can create a flash fire in an instant due to failed components or programming errors. The fact that many of these facilities are run ‘lights out’ with no personnel present further exacerbates the risk. If a fire is not dealt with immediately, the machine will be destroyed; sprinklers don’t react quickly enough for this scenario and would be ineffective. Ensuring Business Continuity One such flash fire occurred inside a protected CNC machine at a machine shop in Iowa. The polymer tubing ruptured within a fraction of a second, releasing the suppression agent and extinguishing the flames. The machine was undamaged and was operational again with a few hours. Contrast this to a previous fire at the same facility in an unprotected machine; it was out of operation for 4 days, costing the business thousands of dollars in downtime In short, fire protection is an essential element of our industrial and commercial environments to ensure both safety and business continuity. However, the nature of that protection is changing, as capacity increases to cost-effectively protect specific areas where fires are most likely to start. Risk mitigation analysis needs to look beyond what has been accepted in the past and find ways to further limit the impact of a small fire using this next level of protection. The benefits can really have a positive effect on the bottom line in the event of fire.

Not just for the lawn: sprinklers should be brought inside the home to maximize domestic fire protection A new NFPA advocacy campaign is pushing for home fire sprinklers. In this article Lorraine Carli, Vice-President of Communications at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), gives her personal take on the issue. Nearly 10 years ago, my husband and I built our home in a typical New England development. It was a demanding process filled with lots of decisions. We picked sizes and colors for countless products. We learned that faucets don't come with handles and toilets don't come with seats - those are separate choices. Most of the choices we made added to the cost, a few hundred dollars here, a few thousand there. We also chose sprinklers - for our lawn. (This despite the fact that I think suburban lawns are overrated and not worth the cost and effort of trying to keep them green all summer.) We were fortunate to have a good contractor to guide us through the process and tell us which decisions were more important than others. But he never told us about home fire sprinklers, and we never asked. After all, that was about seven years before I came to work at NFPA. Since then, my perspective has changed. Like many of my colleagues in the fire safety business, I've become hypersensitive about fire protection. I go to the movie theater and look for the exits, and I look for the sprinklers when I check into a hotel. The argument for domestic fire sprinklers One of my first assignments at NFPA was to coordinate the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes with Gary Keith, NFPA's vice-president for Field Operations and Education. In just three years, life-saving legislation requiring cigarettes to meet a fire safety standard has been enacted in almost 40 states. "You are 82 percent less likely to die in a house fire if sprinklers and working smoke alarms are both present" The campaign has been successful for a number of reasons: it advocates the use of a proven, effective technology; it is championed by, among others, the fire service, which lends the argument a strong, credible voice; and it is singularly focused on one goal - saving lives. Since smoking materials are the leading cause of home fire fatalities, fire-safe cigarettes will undoubtedly have a meaningful impact on the fire death problem in this country. Home fire sprinklers can have the same impact. We have long relied on the effectiveness of sprinklers in other types of buildings, including high rises, schools, and hospitals. 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. You are 82 percent less likely to die in a house fire if sprinklers and working smoke alarms are both present. Fire service members across the country support home fire sprinklers in model codes and local ordinances. In fact, there are now more than 400 U.S. communities with some kind of home fire sprinkler requirement, and all the model codes include a sprinkler provision. Bringing fire sprinklers home Fire sprinklers are already used in many public buildings including offices, hospitals and schools  NFPA recently launched the "Fire Sprinkler Initiative-Bringing Safety Home," a nationwide effort to encourage the use of home fire sprinklers and the adoption of fire sprinkler requirements for new construction. Key components of the campaign are the important educational resources developed by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition over the past 11 years. The new initiative is very exciting, as we look to further reduce the fire risk to lives and property. It won't be easy. We will battle common myths surrounding sprinklers, including notions that they cost too much or that a fire will cause them all to go off at the same time and soak an entire house. While neither is true, such myths are perpetuated by both the uninformed and those who hope to scare people away from an idea that makes sense. But myths can be corrected with accurate information. Fire deaths in the United States have been substantially reduced in recent decades, but there is still more to do. Fires continue to kill almost 3,000 people every year. Home fire sprinklers should be as common as smoke alarms in homes, and they should not be a choice, as they were for my husband and me. If I were building my home today, the lawn wouldn't be the only place with sprinklers.Lorraine Carli - Vice-President of Communications, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)