To Sprinkle or Not to Sprinkle, That is the question Presentation for the Lander City Council Work Session, March 28, 2017 Nick Hudson Fire Administrator/Fire Marshal

Are smoke detectors enough? One main objection to sprinklers in my community is that everyone has smoke alarms and they are enough. In the next couple of slides I will prove that point false.

Now it’s time for the main event!!! Home sprinklers and you…lets get ready to RUMBLE!!!

Kill some myths about sprinklers! Will my sprinklers go off when I burn toast? If one goes off do they all go off? Completely separate plumbing for my house? Will they ruin my stuff? It is so expensive that I won’t be able to build a new home. I will answer these questions briefly with this slide but prove them later.

The basic parts of a sprinkler head. Sprinklers are not new The basic parts of a sprinkler head. Sprinklers are not new. The first patent for sprinklers were in an industrial application dating all the way back to the late 1800’s. They were designed originally to protect Cotton Mills. Owners were tired of the their properties burning down. Sprinklers have been installed in all other kinds of buildings based on square footage and occupancy since the 1960’s.

How do they work? Concealed sprinklers are the most popular. They look a lot like an outlet cover or decorative junction box. Plates actually release from the head at around 110-130 degrees. Sprinklers activate based on temperature with the lowest possible of 135 degrees. Sprinklers can be placed in Sauna rooms or really hot rooms and have a breaking temperature of 225 degrees.

My new home…there is no way it could burn My intent is to ask if the home on the right is sprinkled or not. I don’t know if they will be able to see.

Survey Says… It has been said that new homes don’t burn. I cannot agree with this statement because of 3 main factors and maybe by the time I’m done with the next couple slides you might agree with me.

People don’t die in buildings with sprinklers People don’t die in buildings with sprinklers. There has not been a multiple fatality fire in a sprinkled building since the early 1960’s. Although the risk of dying in a home fire is reduced by smoke detectors they are proven to only work effectively half of the time.

Are sprinklers really worth it and necessary? This is an alarming statistic. How many lives have been saved since seatbelt laws were introduced? How many since airbags became mandatory in vehicles?

The amount of deaths and injuries to civilians and firefighters could be reduced tremendously. We have to use national figures on these topics.

New homes burn and they burn very well New homes burn and they burn very well. When you combine todays contents with todays construction it is a formula for destruction. New construction fail so quickly when exposed to fire. Without early suppression, civilian and firefighter lives are very much in jeopardy.

This is where we put real numbers to the test outside of NFPA, ICC or any other testing organization.

$2.47 at $21,000. That is an 8500 square foot home

Local insurance costs to the homeowner All insurance writers reported savings of 4-10% on partial systems Full Sprinkler systems offer 7-15% savings annually on premiums Local Contractors Insurance Costs Contractors costs are based on annual sales and annual payroll. Local agents reported that if they are installing sprinklers they are only paying an increased premium on that work. There is always the option of subcontracting just the sprinkler portion out.

Training and Certification for Installers This is based on the Authority Having Jurisdiction: Examples: Cheyenne and Casper require a training certification for installers from the company that manufactures the sprinkler. Jackson does not require installers to be certified but they do require the plans to have a NICET III Stamp. Training is not extensive and in most cases provided free of charge by the manufacturer.

LVFD Side By Side Burn October 8, 2016 http://www.nfsa.org/ https://www.usfa.fema.gov/ https://homefiresprinkler.org/ http://www.firesprinklerinitiative.org/