The November/December 2012 Edition of the NFPA Journal focuses primarily on fire sprinklers and their role in keeping commercial and residential facilities safe from the threat of fire. While I enjoyed learning a little more about NFPA 72 and the importance of fully-sprinkled buildings in the grand scheme of fire protection, I couldn’t help but think about all of the instances in which sprinklers DIDN’T work. Let me explain…
In our line of work we speak to a lot of facility managers and facility engineers in all different types of facilities. A good majority of our time is spent educating facility professionals, particularly those in the non-healthcare arena. The codes that require the inspections that we perform, fire damper inspections, fire door inspections and firestop, are not mandated outside of healthcare and quite frankly, most of the building professionals who manage these buildings are really not aware of the important role that dampers, doors and firestop play in the overall safety of their buildings. You wouldn’t believe how many times we hear from facility managers, ” My sprinklers work. They’ll put out a fire.”
NFPA’s Fire Analysis & Research Division published a study in February 2010 titled, “U.S. Experience with Sprinklers & other Extinguisher Equipment”. The study showed that up to 32% of sprinkler systems FAIL during fires. What I hope these facility professionals realize is that your passive fire protection (dampers, doors and fire rated barriers), works WITH your building’s sprinkler system to stop or slow the spread of fire and smoke.
Ask yourself these questions. If you answer “No” or “I don’t Know” to any of these questions, then we might need to talk.
1. Do you know if your building’s passive fire protection system works?
2. Do the fire and smoke dampers work?
3. Are there any holes or problems in your fire walls?
4. Do the fire and smoke doors work and meet all requirements of NFPA 80?
We have representatives situated throughout the country who can help you evaluate the state of your passive fire protection system. The dampers, doors and fire walls are just as important as any other system in your facility.
