NORTH LINCOLN FIRE & RESCUE

DISTRICT #1

 

  

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Fire Sprinkler
Myths and Truths


MYTH - All sprinkler heads in the building go off at the same time causing water to flow where there
is no fire.
REALITY - Only one or two sprinkler heads closest to the fire will activate. In the majority of fires, only
one sprinkler head will put out the fire.


MYTH - Water flowing from an activated sprinkler system will cause more damage than the fire.
REALITY - A residential sprinkler system can extinguish a fire in the “room of fire origin” with less than
300 gallons of water. If there is no sprinkler system, then it will take over 3000 gallons of
water from fire department hoses (on average) to fight the same fire that was now spread out
of the “room of fire origin”.


MYTH - Smoke alarms set fire sprinklers off.
REALITY - Fire sprinklers and smoke alarm systems are designed to activate according to different
conditions. Sprinkler heads are individually heat activated, usually at 165 degrees
Fahrenheit. Smoke alarms, when activated, give only an audible warning sound, they do not
cause fire sprinklers to flow water.


MYTH - Smoke alarms are all that is needed to save people from a building that is on fire.
REALITY - Smoke alarms provide early warning for building occupants but they do not ensure a safe exit
from the building. Buildings equipped with both smoke alarms and fire sprinklers have a
survival rate of over 90%.


MYTH - “Smoke alarms will put the fire out!”
REALITY - This is a dangerous and misleading statement that is many times made on the basis that
smoke alarms will awaken the people in the home and they will then get the fire extinguisher
to put out the fire.
Citizens should only use fire extinguishers to fight small incipient fires. The number one
priority when you hear a smoke alarm or a fire alarm is to get al members of the family out of
the building. Do not fight the fire!


MYTH - Fire sprinkler systems are not reliable.
REALITY - Laboratory testing and a 50 year installation/activation history clearly shows that fire
sprinkler systems exceed a 95% “fail-safe” status.


MYTH - Fire sprinkler systems are expensive.
REALITY - In residential construction, the cost of installing a fire sprinkler (NFPA 13D) system for an
average 2000 sq.ft. home is less than ½ the price of a package of chewing gum per day over
the term of the mortgage.


MYTH - Insurance costs will go up due to fire sprinkler system ruptures and leaks.
REALITY -

a) Sprinkler head failure rate is one in 16 million.
b) Domestic plumbing ruptures and leaks are over a 1000 to 1 ratio compared to sprinkler
system ruptures and leaks
c) If an insurance Company wants to place a surcharge on your policy because you have a
sprinkler system, there are other insurance companies that value the reliability and
effectiveness of fire sprinkler systems and will reduce your policy premiums if you have
fire sprinkler protection, especially in rural or “unprotected areas” in our country.

MYTH - Sprinkler heads are ugly.
REALITY - New designs are smaller, lower profile, can be color coordinated to the interior design and
can be completely concealed.


MYTH - Homeowners will have to pay an expensive yearly testing fee.
REALITY - Not required under NFPA 13D sprinkler standards.


MYTH - Fire sprinkler systems cause taxes to go up.
REALITY - Not when local government practices fiscal diligence. If the NFPA 13D system is kept to its’
original cost effective design intent, the taxes in fact should go down, especially in
communities that can maximize all the benefits afforded by using fire sprinkler community
protection. Some progressive local governments offer tax incentives to encourage
homeowners to install fire sprinkler systems in their dwellings.


MYTH - People will install fire sprinkler systems on a non-mandatory basis.
REALITY - A 200 year Fire Service History clearly shows that safety equipment and safety systems are
rarely installed when left to good intentions. Getting fire sprinklers installed in a community
so that all of the “trade-up” advantages can be maximized usually requires mandated
legislation or local ordinances. A spotty, hit and miss application of fire sprinkler system
installation is not the most cost-effective way of achieving all of the benefits afforded from
fire sprinklers.
And from a life safety, property conservation point of view, there will be no significant
change in these horrendous statistics until fire sprinklers are required by law to protect those
who cannot adequately protect themselves.
The fire record in the United States is still one of the worst when compared to all of the other
industrialized nations of the world.

 

 

Designed & Published by North Lincoln Fire & Rescue District #1
 Not to be reproduced without permission - © 2007