"I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." - Lily Tomlin Wouldn't it be convenient to know about free online training from around the industry, without having to constantly check dozens of websites to keep on top of it all? As part of our effort to connect those in and around the fire protection community, we've started a Tools & Resources page which includes upcoming free webinars and other training events. If you subscribe to our Weekly Blog or Daily posts, you'll start to see listings at the bottom of your regular emails. If you haven't subscribed, you can do so here. Have a webinar you'd like to share with us? Contact us for more information about getting it posted on our site. What you do is important. I was again reminded of the critical nature of fire protection planning, prevention, and response when reading Nat Brandt's 2003 book "Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903." It was and still is the largest loss of life in U.S. History due solely to a fire. What Happened Touted proudly as "Absolutely Fireproof," the Iroquois Theatre opened as destination of grand opulence and ornate design. On December 30th, just over a month after opening, a calcium arclight on stage shorted, causing roughly 6-inches of wire to overheat and ignite. A nearby drop curtain quickly caught fire, spreading the flames up through the vast amounts of scenery material above the stage. Attempts to extinguish the fire using chemical canisters were ineffective, and an asbestos fire curtain failed to lower into place due to lighting supports that obstructed the curtain's path. In an attempt to thwart the electrical nature of the early fire, stage lights were shut off, but broken fuses then left the auditorium and lobby without any light. Covered, confusing, unmarked exits and some with locked doors made egress in the auditorium and through the lobby impossible for many, resulting in a rushed panic, trampling, and further blocking of exits. Within five minutes of ignition nearly the entire set above the stage was inflamed. A large iron door to the rear of the stage was opened by stagehands escaping the fire, only giving fresh air to the fire. Skylights above the stage, which had intended to open as smoke and heat vents, were inoperable due to clamps not removed after installation. Exhaust above the rear of the auditorium pulled smoke up and into the auditorium. Within a half hour the fire was completely extinguished, with a death toll due to trampling and smoke inhalation that still is unfathomable. Contributors to Loss of Life Early attribution to the 602 deaths from the fire was incorrectly blamed upon panic, in part a chauvinist attitude that the crowd full of women and children acted inappropriately. Later study and report identified numerous major contributors to the major loss of life as
It was mentioned that given our modern understanding for fire hazard and egress, it was surprising that most of the 1700 people in attendance that day were even able to escape. Aftermath Following the fire, tougher inspections began throughout the country and in theaters worldwide. All theatres in Chicago were closed until inspected for safety could be completed. After years of legal disputes, ultimately no one was found legally responsible for the tragedy. Reform brought clearer language to ordinances with better-enforcing authority, but even those were slow to change. Major changes as a result of the fire included:
Thoughts on The Book by Nat Brandt This powerful volume was well comprised and focus almost entirely on the fire and its aftermath with long-standing implications. I would recommend it for those who want to understand the awful implications of very poorly planned construction paired with lack of enforcement. As a father, this was a very difficult read. There were stories of efforts to escape the fire by so many (successful and unsuccessful), but particularly awful was the large numbers of women and children who couldn't escape. I cannot imagine the incredible toll this event had for victim's families. It is truly sad that such a long list of fallacies were overlooked to create such a horrendous tragedy. Do we have the problem solved today? Do all areas of the world have resources to prevent these kinds of tragedies? I wish the answer was yes. What I can say is that I feel fortunate to live in a time and location where there is more recognition and enforcement for life safety, and to be in a position to help contribute towards a safer built environment. Protecting life is important. What you contribute as part of the fire protection industry is important. Interested in more? Subscribe to these articles. You're already familiar with the inspector's test as a required component of a sprinkler system, but today we're diving into the true purpose and details behind this important aspect of a sprinkler system. The purpose of the Inspector's Test can include: providing the ability to (1) test the sprinkler system's alarm/waterflow device, (2) test the opening of a dry-pipe or pre-action valve (for dry-pipe or pre-action systems systems, of course), (3) test the trip time from when the valve is opened to the arrival of water, where necessary, and (4) can aid in venting trapped air. The inspector's test can be coupled as an air vent for a wet system or an auxiliary drain, although we'll explore those components in more detail separately. Discharge: Used to discharge water during the test or draining of the system. Discharge must:
Drum Drip: Provided for dry or pre-action systems to collect condensate within the system for purging. At a minimum they must be:
Orifice: The orifice (within a sight/site glass) simulates the flow of a single sprinkler in order to ensure that the sprinkler waterflow alarm will activate upon the flow of a single sprinkler. The orifice must:
Sight/Site Glass: typically provided where water discharge is not visible from the control valve (NFPA 13 2002 A.8.16.4.2, 2007-13 A.8.17.4.2, 2016 A.8.17.4.1). As a side note, I don't understand why Drive Thrus and Site Glasses are spelled the way they are, but I don't try to fight the system. Just know that common language often refers to these as 'site' glasses despite not actually referring to a large area of land. Supply: The supply simply connects the most remote branchline from the riser to the inspector's test (for a remote inspector's test). It must:
Tags must:
Valves:
Wall Penetrations:
When & Where Required: inspector's tests are required on each wet, dry, or pre-action sprinkler system:
We hope this was helpful. Don't get these? Expand your expertise by receiving these straight to your inbox, for free: I’ve rethought my career only a few times in my life. None of which were very serious, often more or less originating as daydreams of becoming a full time artist and living on a beach. Not so a few years into the profession when I ran into a major design issue on a premiere project. The job was a large commercial headquarters split by a four-story atrium that was coming together as an architectural achievement in itself. Nothing outlandish or world-renowned, but in my limited experience it was the biggest and best project I had worked on to date. Design phases came and went with big deadlines any consultant has surely experienced. Our scope at the time was limited to design-build (or performance specifications) fire alarm and sprinkler system plans and specifications. We coordinated standpipes, flow switches for smoke control zones, data center clean agent systems, graphic annunciators, and other features not commonplace in most office buildings. It wasn’t until a day before my wife and I were to leave on a week-long Christmas vacation that I received word that a large change order coming based on a difference between our expectations for sprinkler protection and the contractor’s bid for both of the atrium’s four-story stairwells.
Today we're diving into the basic components of a fire sprinkler: Orifice (Opening)
The orifice varies in size, but has a major impact on the sprinkler's k-factor which ultimately governs the sprinkler's relationship between flow and pressure. Opening sizes vary fairly dramatically but in general are not a major driver for sprinkler selection. Threading The nominal threading sizes range in quarter-inch increments from 1/2-inch to 1-1/4-inch (although some dry pendent shafts do have 1-1/2-inch threads). Thread size of sprinklers can be gathered in the field simply by measuring the diameter of the thread shaft. Sprinklers with a k-factor greater than 5.6 are no longer allowed to have thread sizes of 1/2-inch (NFPA 13 2002-2016 Section 8.3.5). Plug The plug retains the water (and pressure) within the sprinkler and pipe network. Breakage of the liquid-filled glass bulb results in the release of the plug, and thereafter the water. Sealed Liquid-Filled Glass Bulb Modern commercial sprinklers mostly rely on the colored glass bulb as the thermal sensor in the fire sprinkler, but other types are still frequent as well. Color of the liquid within the bulb indicate the listed activation temperature of the sprinkler (and can be found in NFPA 13 2002-2016 Table 6.2.5.1). Frame & Deflector The frame can have many finishes, of which some of the more common are listed above. The deflector offers the basic premise of the fire sprinkler - which is to distribute water in a specific pattern to best combat a fire hazard within an enclosure. Deflectors vary depending upon the style of the sprinkler and work to achieve different objectives. A residential pendent, for example, throws water with greater emphasis to the walls and ceiling where hazards are more commonly present in residential occupancies. Don't receive these articles? Sign up today and get these free weekly posts straight to your inbox. While smoke detectors often have recommended spacing of 30 feet (identified in manufacturer's product data), spacing 30-feet on center is not the only way to space smoke detectors. NFPA 72 offers two methods for spacing smoke detectors on smooth ceilings: Traditional Approach The first method is simply to provide detectors at their listed spacing (often 30 feet), center-to-center, and within half the distance (which is 15 feet) to walls. [NFPA 72 2002 5.7.3.2.3(A-B), 2007 5.7.3.2.3.1-.2, or 2010-2016 17.6.3.1.1(1)] Second Method The second, often lesser-known method, is to provide smoke detectors such that all points on the ceiling are within a distance of 0.7 times the listed spacing, or less [NFPA 72 2002 Section 5.7.3.2.3(E), 2007 5.7.3.2.3.5, or 2010-2016 17.6.3.1.1(2)]. Applying the Method In practice, this simply results in drawing a 21 foot circle (0.7 x 30-foot spacing = 21 feet) around each detector and making sure that every point on the ceiling is covered. On site, it would simply result in making sure every spot on the ceiling is within 21 feet of a smoke detector. This second method becomes important for complex room configurations, long and narrow corridors, or as a way to simply provide smoke detectors at their most efficient coverage. A corridor which is 100-feet long and 10-feet wide, for instance, would require 4 smoke detectors under their listed spacing (30-feet spacing on center and 15-feet to the corridor ends). Using the second spacing method allowed by NFPA 72, these smoke detectors can be spaced nearly 41 feet center-to-center, requiring only 3 smoke detectors to be used. Using the Second Method Fundamentally, the theory is that smoke production will fill a ceiling based on the area of the ceiling. For a long, narrow corridor, smoke will be limited in it's spread in the narrow dimension, forcing travel down the corridor. As a result, smoke detector response time is dependent upon the amount of area the detector covers, not necessarily the spacing between detectors. Matching smoke detector layouts to the nature of smoke transport and this code allowance could result in a simpler approach and often the need for less smoke detectors overall. Not subscribed to get posts like this? Subscribe here for our free Weekly Posts.
![]() We are very excited to announce that we are launching new platform for Daily Discussion! Starting Monday of next week, we will anonymously post open ended-questions that you submit. The technical questions will be distributed to our active community just as the PE Problems are now, and anyone willing to share their expertise will be invited to partake in the discussion. Our hope is that over time we provide opportunities for experts around the country and around the world to weigh in on and learn from the active discussions surrounding the daily questions. We've kicked around various forms of the concept ever since we debuted the daily PE Problems a few years ago, but the interest and feedback gathered since we started has encouraged us to find ways to bring new content and better engage with the sharp, engaging audience that we hear from regularly. Ready to submit a question? They can be anything in fire protection, from fire alarm to sprinkler, life safety to passive fire protection, theory to application. All questions are published anonymously: Do you follow our Blog, but not the daily questions? You can update your subscription to include both our Weekly Blog posts as well as our Daily Questions here: Know a colleague who might benefit or be interested in this? Recommend us to a friend.
![]() It was a Saturday at closing time on March 25, 1911 in the heart of New York City. Young women (mostly immigrants) and some men were preparing to begin their single day off (a result of recent major labor reform) when a fire broke on the 8th floor of the Asch Building in Manhattan, endangering many and ending as the greatest workplace disaster in the US for the following 90 years. David Von Drehle's 2003 non-fiction account of the Triangle Waistcoat Factory fire offers a thorough investigation of the social struggle for labor rights and a deep depiction of the era in which the awful event occurred. The book focuses on the major labor disputes at the time, recognizing early beginnings of "sweat shops" (named for owners who would 'sweat' or cut pay for employees after they complete work and had earlier agreed to higher wages). Large immigrant influxes composed the early manufacturing labor in often cramped, poor conditions with 7-day weeks and long working hours. The focus then shifts to the fire itself, detailing the development from a likely discarded cigarette to rapid growth from heaps of discarded textiles which ended up taking 146 lives. Locked exits (which were intended to funnel exiting and prevent theft), inadequately planned and installed fire escape, no sprinklers, ladder trucks which couldn't reach the height of the building, and severe lack of drills and warning about the fire all contributed to the disaster. After the fire the book focuses on the trials of the owners, a Factory Investigation Commission, and the social reform for workplace condition improvement brought about by the labor unions formed in that era. Following the fire and recommendations for the independent commission, New York State legislature passed thirty-eight new laws regulating labor, wages, and safety, including mandates for exit door locking and swing direction, fire escape construction and design, egress access, and installations for alarm and sprinkler systems. Many states followed suit thereafter. The book is a vivid account of the era, although it spends much more time in social injustice and labor reform than on the fire event and consequences of the fire than a fire protection professional may prefer. Have you read it? p.s. If you're interested in reading along with us, our next book is Chicago Death Trap by Nat Brandt, an account on the Iroquois Theater Fire of 1903. We'll review that volume on September 27th. A 3-in-12 pitch to a ceiling or overhang might not appear that dramatic, but I came across a reminder again this past week as to the importance of paying attention to ceiling and overhang slopes. We had a project with a corridor that had a high roof where routing pendents would be impractical. The slope of the corridor was 3 in 12 (3 inches vertical for every 12 inches horizontal), and so we evaluated use of sidewall sprinklers to protect the corridor. Here's where there's three important points to remember came into play that offered a good refresher for us: Sidewall sprinklers are required to have the deflector aligned parallel to ceiling or roof slopes (NFPA 13 2002-2016 Editions Section 8.7.4.2), and, where the slope exceeds 2 in 12 the sprinkler must be located at the high point of the slope and be positioned downward (NFPA 13 2002-2016 Editions Section 8.7.4.2.2). Additionally, as with all slopes, the sprinkler coverage is measured along-the-slope, not in floor area (NFPA 13 2002-2016 Editions Section 8.7.3.1.2). Those can be easy-to-miss rules and I probably didn't pick up on them for longer than it should have taken when I first started designing fire sprinkler systems.
Other considerations that often pop up in these scenarios include: (1) Use of extended coverage sprinklers may have specific limitations on how dramatic of a slope they can handle, (2) Sidewall sprinklers must be listed for use when they are lower than 6 inches down from the ceiling or roof (NFPA 13 2002-2016 Editions Section 8.7.4.1.1.2). This listing often involves different required pressure and coverage. Reference the product data sheets to be sure installations match their listings. (3) Sidewall sprinklers can't be located more than 6 inches from the wall on which they are mounted (NFPA 13 2002-2016 Editions Section 8.7.4.1.2.2) What issues do you look for with sloped ceilings? Post in the comment section below. Want to see more like this? Subscribe to our Weekly Blog. |
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+ Unsubscribe anytime AUTHORJoe Meyer, PE, is a Fire Protection Engineer out of St. Louis, Missouri who writes & develops resources for Fire Protection Professionals. See bio here: About FILTERS
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