Fire and Water: How a Fire Sprinkler System Can Save Your Property

While a fire wise landscape on the outside is our first and best defense against the intrusion of fire to our buildings, there are always other dangers of fire inside, from electrical mishaps to simple kitchen accidents.  Protecting our homes and offices with a commercial fire sprinkler system is not only a good idea, it is often a necessity.  Building codes and local fire ordinances will dictate at minimum what kind of system is required and how extensive it must be.  These regulations are a great start in planning for fire safety.  A professional installer, too, will be familiar and well-versed in meeting these codes, but will also be able to design a system that is appropriate for your building’s size and layout.

So, what does a fire sprinkler system do?  Whereas smoke detectors alert building occupants that they need to evacuate in the instance of fire—because smoke inhalation is generally the biggest culprit in fires that end lives—a sprinkler system is triggered by extreme heat.  Because heat rises, the system’s sprinkler heads are usually installed on ceilings or the upper part of the room’s walls where they will spray water at the first sign of extremely hot air.  The water douses the fire from inside the building in the span of time between the fire being set and fire crews arriving on site.