WILL SPRINKLERS CAUSE MORE WATER DAMAGE TO MY HOME?

No, sprinklers are able to discharge less water to control a fire than a fire department uses. This is because sprinklers act quickly to control a fire. In fact, often the flames have been extinguished before the fire department even arrives.

Flash Over is the point in a fire when every thing in a room ignites because of the temperature. If anyone is in a room at this point they will probably NOT survive. Sprinklers act quickly to control a fire well before flashover occurs. Once flashover occurs the fire is very large and hundreds of gallons of water are required to keep it under control or extinguish it.

Here are some statistics to illustrate this taken from the Scottsdale 10 year report :

• Sprinklers discharge 13-30 Gallons per minute
• Fire hose discharge 125-225 Gallons per minute
• According to the Scottsdale report average fire with sprinklers is 341 US Gallons.
• According to the Scottsdale report average fire without sprinkler is 2935 US Gallons.
• Average cost of fire in a sprinklered home was $2,166.00.
• Average cost of fire in unsprinklered home was $45,019.00.
• There were 49 fires in single family homes with fire sprinkler systems. There were NO deaths in the sprinklered homes where 13 people died in homes without sprinklers.
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The Scottsdale 10 year report which now includes 10 years of study results can be viewed at the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition web site.