We recently had the honor of having an open house at the Perrysburg Fire Headquarters. We dedicated the station back in January but because of the unfavorable weather conditions we opened it back up to the public for another go round.
We dedicated our revamped fire safety trailer with the help of our Eagle scout to be. In addition we showed off our training tower with several rope rescue drills.
Our highlight of the afternoon was of course our home sprinkler demo. We started with two 10X10 foot rooms each equipped with a modern couch, tv with stand and curtains. The only difference was one had a sprinkler and one did not.
The video starts about 3 minutes and 30 seconds after the initial fire was started on the curtains and spread to the couch. At about the 5 minute mark the fire was fully involved and over 1200 degrees at the ceiling. We were all surprised at how fast the fire progressed. This demo showed the importance of smoke detectors in your home and just how fast the fire spreads. If this fire started in your basement and your smoke detectors were not wired together....How long would it be before the smoke reached the upstairs, you woke up, and was able to get out?
The above video shows the fire starting on the curtains and quickly engulfing them. This is the exact way the first fire started in the first video and you can see how fast the fire spreads in as little as three minutes. We join the video about 30 seconds after the start of the fire and in less than 60 seconds the sprinkler is activated and puts out the fire!
People asked "What about the water damage?" Home sprinklers have valves you can shut off safely after the fire is out. Restoration companies can clean that up in a matter of hours and may be get you back in your house the same day. To many times fires have progressed to either a total loss or weeks and years out of a home due to fire smoke and water damage. The bigger the fire, the bigger the water needed to put it out. Even worse yet, a loss of life because someone was overcome by smoke or could not get out.
Home sprinklers are the best insurance policy. Please help us get the word out.