Fire Sprinklers Save Lives and the Environment

<h2 style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt">Fire Sprinklers Save Lives and the Environment</h2>(ARA) – Home fire sprinkler systems save lives, reduce property damage and cut homeowner insurance premiums. These are facts few people debate. According to the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, a non-profit educational organization, you can reduce the risk of death in a home fire by a whopping 82 percent by installing smoke alarms in combination with a fire sprinkler system.<div style="text-align: center"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="425" height="282"><param name="movie" value="../images/banners/11b.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="wmode" value="" /><embed src="../images/banners/11b.swf" wmode="" quality="high" menu="false" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="282"></embed></object></div>But if that’s still not enough reason to convince you to install a fire sprinkler system in your home, then consider this – fire sprinkler systems are also good for the environment. So whether you’re a die-hard tree hugger or just mildly concerned about issues such as global warming, overcrowded landfills, and runoff into groundwater supplies, take a minute and think about all the eco benefits a home fire sprinkler system has to offer. If a fire burns out of control prompting intervention by the local fire department, it’s going to require a substantial amount of water. Fire hoses, on average, use more than eight times the water that sprinklers use to contain a fire, according to the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition. More specifically, according to the Scottsdale Report, a 15-year study of fire sprinkler effects, the typical sprinkler system will use 341 gallons of water. In comparison, a firefighter’s hose will use roughly 2,935 gallons in a single fire. Not only do sprinklers disburse less water at one time but, typically, only the sprinkler closest to the fire will be activated. The Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition has documented that nearly 90 percent of fires are extinguished by the operation of just one sprinkler. The reduced amount of water consumption equates to less groundwater runoff. Those thousands of gallons of water from the firefighters’ hoses have to flow somewhere. And they do – right into groundwater supplies – along with all the toxins and debris that are disbursed from the fire. A fire sprinkler system also reduces the amount of toxins being released into the air. Even forest fires cause advisories from the American Lung Association – and that’s typically just trees and plants burning. Now add in the effects on air quality from burning polyester, insulation and dry wall, not to mention all the household cleaners and chemicals found in a typical home. It’s not just the smoke that’s harmful, but also all the microscopic particles that are being blown into the air. Home fire sprinklers have been proven to contain and often extinguish a fire in less time than it would take the fire department to arrive on the scene. That minimizes the amount of time the structure and contents are burning and spewing black gritty smoke. Landfills are another concern resulting from an uncontrolled house fire. Whether a house is completely destroyed in a fire or is only damaged, tons of building materials, furnishings and other ruined possessions are hauled to the dump. According to a green building guidelines report created by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority (San Leandro, Calif.), it’s estimated that 21 percent of materials disposed in county landfills are construction and demolition debris. Rebuilding a home will not only require new building materials but also generates tons of construction waste. The report states that total construction waste generated from one 2,000-square-foot new home is nearly 13 tons. Fire sprinklers help minimize the amount of fire-damaged materials that need to be replaced by quickly extinguishing the fire or containing it to a small area of the home. Water usage, groundwater runoff, toxins in the air, and landfill overcrowding are the more serious environmental concerns created by a household fire – aside from the obvious life-threatening effects. All of these can be minimized and, in some cases, eliminated with the installation of a properly working fire sprinkler system. The system itself can offer additional environmental benefits depending on the material used. Today, across the globe, more and more homes feature a BlazeMaster CPVC fire sprinkler system, not only because it’s more cost-effective to purchase and install than a traditional metal system, but also because of its superior reliability in long-term performance, as well as its green advantages. From a reliability standpoint, a BlazeMaster CPVC fire sprinkler system is immune to the effects of both interior and exterior corrosion. As a result, the water spraying from a BlazeMaster system is clear and not discolored from pipe corrosion. It also offers a longer service life that is uninterrupted by the effects of pinhole leaks or microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). CPVC requires less energy to produce other piping materials on the market today, including steel. It also generates very little waste during production, and what is generated can easily be recycled. <div style="text-align: center"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="425" height="282"><param name="movie" value="../images/banners/5b.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="wmode" value="" /><embed src="../images/banners/5b.swf" wmode="" quality="high" menu="false" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-fl
ash" width="425" height="282"></embed></object></div> For more information on the environmental benefits, as well as the obvious life-saving benefits, of a home fire sprinkler system, visit <a href="http://www.blazemaster.com/">www.blazemaster.com</a> . Courtesy of ARAcontent

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