Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Responds to Fire Department Mishap

Recently, when the Washington, DC Fire Department conducted a live fire and sprinkler demonstration, firefighters extinguishing the non-sprinklered side entered the burning demonstration unit instead of fighting the fire from a few feet back. Burning acrylic from the smoke barrier dripped down onto them and one received minor burns. Dramatic images of the firefighters' protective clothing catching fire have received widespread media attention.

HFSC wants to remind all fire departments that there is no reason to enter the demonstration unit until you begin overhaul. The fire in the unsprinklered unit can and should be extinguished with an exterior attack after it has gone to flashover.

Live side-by-side flashover and sprinkler demonstrations provide a unique educational experience for the public. The audience is exposed not only to very real heat and smoke; they also see first-hand how the non-sprinklered side grows and spreads in only seconds. These furnished "room" fires help the audience understand how a home fire becomes deadly in less than three minutes. And they reinforce the value of smoke alarms and home fire sprinkler systems.

HFSC offers a free Kit to help fire departments use side-by-side live burn demonstrations to raise local awareness of home fire sprinklers. We provide all the information needed to build the units and present them. In creating our kit, HFSC researched the best construction practices. Based on information gathered through nearly 300 side-by-side units constructed and demonstrated in the Chicago area, we developed step-by-step guidance for building the units and presenting them. We recommend building separate, unattached flashover and sprinklered units, which makes it possible to save and re-use the sprinklered side multiple times.

Our video and print guidance addresses the use of transparent acrylic barriers, such as the type that melted onto the DC firefighters who entered the burning demo unit. These barriers help build the ceiling layer and temperature necessary to approximate a flashover scenario in the nonsprinklered unit. HFSC includes specific guidance for using these barriers in our Kit. We point out that the acrylic will become molten during the fire and that the fire crew should not extinguish the non-sprinklered side until a few seconds after the acrylic panel has melted and
dropped to the ground.

The acrylic barrier helps ensure the complete demonstration, as intended. When good practice is employed, there is no reason to omit the acrylic barrier from your plan.

If you have any questions about how to build or use a side-by-side flashover and sprinkler demonstration, please contact us. We'll be happy to help.