DECATUR, Ala. — With the temperatures dropping, appliances like heaters can put homes at risk for catching on fire. This can cause damage and worst - loss of life. The Decatur Fire & Rescue, along with the Alabama fire college held a "live" fire demonstration to show how effective and potentially life-saving residential sprinkler systems can be. Fire Marshal John Jones was on hand to share the importance of the device.
"It's part of a joint effort, a combined effort to try to bring awareness to the communities in the construction of homes, to consider residential sprinklers because of the benefits of life safety that they offer," Jones stated
The sprinkler system is designed to help control a fire until fire responders can get to the scene, which can save homes from extensive damages and most of all save lives. It is controlled by a bulb sensor that will engage once a certain temperature is reached, which doesn't interfere with everyday task like cooking.
"That's the primary reason it is for saving lives, but also that property conservation," Jones stated. That when people see a structure that, you know, is so costly, that it could simply be contained by just 1 to 2 sprinkler heads and keep a fire in check and put it out. Maybe that person's not there but keeps it in check and keeps it from going any further."
The sprinkler system can also help responders with fire investigations according to Jones. " From an investigation standpoint, we love the fact that when you have a sprinkler system that deploys, that helps keep everything in place. I can go into that, and I can see right where the fire started. I can have a better idea as an investigator to see what happened. and we try to find out what happened because we want to know how to better prevent it."
Having one of these systems can be costly, but if done at the proper time, it can cut that down. "When we consider things like, the amenities that go into a home, you know, a wife wants to consider her granite countertops and the nicer things but also, try to figure in the things for life safety as well," Jones stated. It is a consideration that has a cost to it. But if you're doing that on the fore end of the construction phase, that's the time to consider it."
