Life of a Sprinkler

The Fire Marshal's Office is serious when it comes to fire protection and safety. One of the major accomplishments of the department is the installation of sprinkler systems that exist in all of the student residence halls. The sprinkler system is the first line of defense when it comes to unnoticed fires. Over the years we have had several small fires that showed the importance and critical need to have sprinklers installed on campus. In 1998, there was an intentionally set fire that occurred in the common bathroom of Jogues Hall.

ehs_jogues_fire_sm‌Three years later, almost to the day of the fire occurrence, a second fire happened in the same bathroom. The only difference between the two was the presence of a sprinkler system installed in the dormitory before the second occurrence. The presence of the sprinkler system is what made the difference in the aftermath of the second fire. As you can see from the pictures provided, the first fire that was set created extensive smoke and heat damage in the bathroom. Without the presence of a sprinkler system, this fire burned freely until the fire department personnel arrived and extinguished it. The second fire that occurred in the same location, again in a garbage can, was successfully extinguished due to the activation of the sprinklers in that bathroom that went off immediately.

The presence of this sprinkler system greatly reduced the smoke and heat damage to a minimum. The only problem that had to be dealt with was the small amount of water on the floor due to the sprinkler discharge. You can see from the differences in these two pictures when comparing them just how valuable these fire suppression sprinklers are to Fairfield University in further contributing to the safety of students, faculty, and staff.