Ask the Chief
The City of Roseburg has been experiencing substantial commercial and residential development over the past few years. Construction continues to expand up from the valley floor to the foothills around Roseburg. With this hillside development there are issues with providing adequate water to these structures for fire fighting purposes. Recently a contractor within the city addressed this issue by making a request to the Roseburg Fire Department for an alternative method for waterflow. The contractor will be installing a residential sprinkler system in a single family dwelling, in lieu of providing a fire hydrant.
Every 90 seconds a home fire is reported in the United States. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), eight out of 10 fire fatalities occur where Americans feel safest, in their own homes.
Fire-escape plans, fire drills and working smoke alarms are vital safety precautions to help ensure families escape from a burning home before they are injured or even killed. In fact, a smoke alarm can decrease the chance of dying in a home fire by nearly 50 percent. And when used together with a residential fire sprinkler system, the risk of dying in a home fire is reduced by 82 percent. Not only do they save more lives, fire sprinkler systems, unlike smoke alarms, can actually control a fire and reduce the average property loss by as much as two-thirds.
Although residential fire sprinkler systems were introduced in the 1980s, only about 2 percent of U.S. homes are currently equipped with the life-saving devices.
The most common misconception is that fire sprinkler systems will malfunction and cause damage. He says that industry statistics indicate that the chance of a sprinkler malfunctioning is one in 16 million.
The second most common misconception is that all the sprinklers in the home go off at the same time causing extensive water damage. Sprinkler heads are individually heat-sensitive and go off independently after they reach a specific temperature, typically around 155 degrees.
A residential fire sprinkler head uses only 10 to 15 gallons of water per minute, whereas a single fire department hose uses up to 250 gallons of water per minute. Typically, more than one hose is used to extinguish the fire. In homes, 90 percent of the time, only one sprinkler head activates and controls the fire.
Whether mandated or not in communities, fire sprinkler systems are wise investments for all families, especially those with small children and seniors who would need assistance in escaping a home fire.