Having a dry pipe fire sprinkler system installed is one of the first steps to ensure that your building is protected from fire. These systems are the fire suppression definition, and they are usually quite useful, especially if they are automatic. They can help to protect both the occupants of a building and the property itself.
When you think of the amount of damage a fire can cause to your property, you will quickly conclude that it’s crucial to do everything you can to prevent fires. Yes, it’s true that the fire brigade will come to your rescue, but remember they arrive after the fire has already started. Why not then have your own fire brigade in place. One that uses only a minimum amount of water and therefore won’t cause extensive damage to your property, just like dry fire suppression.
Besides just putting out fires, fire sprinklers also eliminate the possibility of people being trapped in property during fires. The central fire sprinkler heads create a path, allowing occupants to escape safely. Besides all that, they are also a cost-effective alternative. You need to buy fire sprinkler heads, pipers, and all the other fittings, and you are good to go.
Contrary to popular belief, fires remain a major concern for homeowners and commercial business owners alike. Despite the use of less flammable building materials and the existence of high-tech, quick response fire departments, many people are still seriously injured or even killed in fires each year. Even when a fire doesn’t hurt anyone, it still results in a great deal of damage. Buildings can be burned to the ground and properties severely damaged. This equals a lot of money lost, as well as more spent on rebuilding, even with the help of insurance. According to estimates, hotel fires are responsible for 15 deaths and 150 injuries a year. Furthermore, these same fires result in $76 million in property damage. Hotels, of course, are not the only large buildings at risk of catch on fire — fires have also been known to affect restaurants and even hospitals. In 2010 alone, U.S. fire departments responded too 1,200 hospital fires. So, how do prevent these fires? There are many strategies for prevention, but none are fool-proof. Therefore, the best thing one can do is invest in fire protection systems. And the best fire protection systems, perhaps, are commercial fire sprinkler systems. Let’s look into the advantages of commercial fire sprinkler systems, and why these fire protection services are among the best available.
1. They’re Extra Insurance Against Fires
One of the reasons why investors appreciate commercial fire sprinkler systems is that they tend to work as back-ups for other types of prevention and alert systems. No matter how hard you work to protect yourself against fires, they are always at risk of happening, especially in large commercial buildings. It’s good to have several measures of protection. Firstly, you should prevent fires in any ways possible — by having your electrical systems updated on a regular basis, and so on. You should also invest in smoke alarms. Commercial fire sprinkler systems come into play last, working both as alarms and suppressants. When the sprinklers go off, people are automatically aware that the fire is occurring. They know to leave the building as quickly as possible, while at the same time the fire is suppressed. As such, you kill two birds with one stone, having the most effective system possible that both keeps people safe and actively works to suppress the fire.
2. They Act Quickly
A fire department will respond to any and all calls regarding fires — and their efforts shouldn’t be discounted. At the same time, a fire department can only respond so quickly. Even when moving as quickly as possible, it can take them a prolonged period of time to respond, especially if the building in question is in a remote part of town. When a fire takes place in a large building with many rooms, the wait becomes even more prolonged. As such, you need to take active steps to suppress a fire as quickly as possible. Commercial fire sprinkler systems do just this, beginning the job for the fire department before they arrive. Not only that — in that short amount of time, they release a very large amount of water. When quick response sprinklers are installed, they release eight to 24 gallons of water per minute. This is in comparison to 80 to 125 gallons per minute released by a fire hose. Not only does this shut down fires quickly — but in cases of false alarms, it doesn’t cause a huge amount of unnecessary water damage.
3. They Really Work
Fire sprinkler systems have been proven to work. The proof is in their results — it’s been estimated that a combination of early alert systems and fire sprinkler systems should reduce the loss of life caused by fires by at least 50%. When dry or wet chemical systems were operating, they were judged as effective 69% of the time. When fires were large enough to trigger the systems, they worked 55% of the time. Don’t take the risk of not having backup–protect yourself.