A sprinkler that just popped?

It was the evening of January 23, 2001. An after hours call came in, it was a very angry customer saying he had a sprinkler that “popped” for no apparent reason. After several minutes of discussion with the customer he insisted nothing was done or happened to initiate the sprinkler to operate. He mentioned the fire department had come and turned his water off and wanted this fixed as soon as possible. As the City of Vancouver does not allow a separate shut off valve on the sprinkler, water to the entire home was shut off. Immediately after finishing up on the telephone with the customer, we were on the way.

Approaching the job site, things looked familiar. Finding the correct house number amongst a few dark houses, memories start to come back to me. I had realized this was a tri-plex where I had installed the sprinkler system some 17 months earlier.

Following the customer to the problem area, it was soon evident the customer had a fire. Something on the “hot plate” had caught fire and activated the single sprinkler in the room. Within a mere 15 minutes, the sprinkler was replaced and water returned to the entire building. Arriving some 10 hours after the fire, all was clean except the “hot plate” and some wet cushions on the kitchen chairs.

Although it is hard to prove, I was convinced this sprinkler saved a large amount of damage and possibly a life was saved. During the original installation this particular room was just a storage area. It was attached to two of the units and was required to be fire separated from the other areas. There was no heat or smoke detector in the room.

All the way home that evening my head grew larger and larger. My sprinkler system worked as it should. That is my occupation; I always believed they would work, however it is a different feeling when you were involved with the project from day one. My job now has new meaning, knowing first hand sprinklers actually made a difference.

Tim Killey
Fire Busters Inc.
Delta, BC