Fire Sprinklers
Fire Defense Whether You're there or Not
While extinguishers are an essential manual defense against fires, a smart fire sprinkler system is the best way to have automatic defense against open fires in an isolated area or across the entire building. Immediate Fire Protection is able to serve as your full fire protection company, offering full and seamless integration between your alarm and sprinkler systems.
Immediate Fire Protection handles full installation as well as periodic repair and maintenance throughout the year. We handle all of our work in house, meaning no subcontractors, no strangers, and no unexpected costs.
How Fire Sprinklers Work
Fire sprinklers actually act independently from your fire alarm system. They do not trigger upon the detection of smoke. The sprinkler heads are actually contained with glass. What the sprinkler system looks for is high temperatures indicating the presence of open flames. There is fluid within these glass bulbs that are set to expand and burst at certain temperatures. Once the head bursts, it signals to the sprinkler system to begin emitting liquid.
Sprinklers will only begin emitting once fire has reached that sprinkler head. If you have a high risk building that requires simultaneous sprinkler release all at once, you need a deluge fire sprinkler system, which triggers every sprinkler once a single sprinkler head detects fire.
Do Fire Sprinkler Systems Use Water?
Most fire sprinkler systems use water that is stored by connecting pipes in your plumbing. For general fires, a continuous stream of water can be effective at eliminating or containing a sudden fire. A deluge sprinkler system will wet the entire area and make it more difficult for an open flame to spread and catch anything else.
However, there are foam fire sprinkler systems that are recommended or necessary for structures that deal with elements that cause a particularly high risk. Foam is more effective than water smothering flames and depriving of them the oxygen they need to continue heating and burning.
Won't Sprinklers Cause Water Damage?
A common fear that clients share is the idea that the moisture from sprinklers will cause more extensive water damage than the fire itself may cause or the fire department may cause.
First, if a fire is not contained, the entire building can be destroyed leaving you with nothing. Second, most sprinkler systems only activate the affected head, meaning that one sprinkler could be enough to prevent a small fire from spreading, leaving you with only a small amount of potential water damage. Finally, the amount of water pumped from a fire hose when used by the fire department poses a much more severe threat of causing serious water damage. In all cases, a sprinkler system is much safer and a necessary safeguard to stop fires from spreading.
