Firefighters Watch Sprinkler Demonstration
Last updated Monday, February 13, 2006 10:36 PM CST in News
By Bob Caudle
The Morning News
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SPRINGDALE -- Firefighters are looking at the day when every house in Springdale has a sprinkler system for fire prevention.
"In Arizona, you can't build a house without a sprinkler system," said Kevin McDonald, Springdale fire marshal. "More and more states are making it a requirement in a residential building."
Springdale firefighters attended a demonstration at Fire Station No. 1 Monday concerning the effectiveness of sprinkler systems.
A burn trailer owned by Road Sprinkler Fitters, U.A. Local Union No. 669, demonstrated several scenarios of fire sprinkler applications.
The demonstrations inside the fireproof room on the trailer simulate flames igniting cotton curtains and other situations.
The sprinkler system extinguished the flames within 20 seconds. In that short time, the fire reached a temperature over 500 degrees.
"Over 5,000 people die in house fires every year," McDonald said. "Most die from smoke inhalation. The bottom line is, sprinklers save lives."
Residential sprinkler systems are rare, McDonald added. Springdale has more than 700 apartments, he said, but only the three-story Chapel Ridge apartment complex has a sprinkler system. City fire codes mandate sprinklers for buildings taller than two stories.
"That's why you see so many apartment complexes built along the same designs," McDonald said. "Developers look at sprinkler systems as an added cost."
The cost, however, is not all that prohibitive, according to Tony Cacioppo, business agent for the Road Sprinkler Fitters Union.
"It costs about as much to install a sprinkler system as it does to install wall-to-wall carpeting," Cacioppo said.
Union members performed approximately 10 demonstrations in the morning and early afternoon, Cacioppo said. The union has four trailers that travel the nation giving demonstrations.
The trailer will be at the Rogers Fire Department today and in Bentonville on Wednesday.
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