SANFORD — Flames consumed the loveseat and licked up the curtain and the smoke detector sounded its steady, insistent call. By the time 90 seconds had passed, the “room” was at flashover, which means had anyone been inside ”“ and no one was ”“ they would have perished. Flames consumed the interior in a whoosh and gray smoke billowed.
A second “room,” a three-sided affair constructed by students at Sanford Regional Technical Center for this specific purpose, was outfitted with one residential sprinkler head. Sanford firefighters set the second room alight ”“ as they had the first ”“ and 15 seconds after flames first appeared sneaking up around an old recliner, the sprinkler engaged, dousing the furniture and the flames.
The message was simple and twofold: Residential sprinkler systems can hold a fire at bay and sometimes extinguish the blaze in just a few seconds ”“ and in so doing, those sprinklers save lives. Fire can take hold quickly in a home, and can change your world forever in 90 seconds or less.
Sanford Fire Department teamed up with the National Fire Protection Association the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, Freedom Fire Protection Inc. and Sanford Regional Technical Center to compare fires in rooms that are sprinkled and those that are not.
The demonstration took place behind Sanford High School in the two “rooms” constructed by technical school building trades students and furnished with castoffs from a local salvage company.
In one, the sprinkler was set to go off when the room reached 155 degrees Fahrenheit. The unsprinkled room was expected to reach 1,500 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.
“By providing this unique live fire comparison, people not only gain an appreciation for fire’s power, they also realize what an incredible advantage it is to have a fire sprinkler system installed if fire breaks out,” said Sanford Fire Marshal Peter Cutrer. “Flashover is in 90 seconds ”“ that’s the point where you’re not making it out of the room.”
Timothy Travers, fire sprinkler specialist with the National Fire Protection Association, said residential sprinklers cost about $1.61 per square foot ”“ about the same as granite countertops, hardwood floors or a hot tub. He said insurers typically discount homeowner policies from about 8 percent to 15 percent if the home is sprinkled and recommended homeowners shop around for insurance.
He pointed to information that shows the risk of dying in a fire decreases about 80 percent if a home is sprinkled, and that sprinklers reduce property loss by more than 70 percent.
While residential sprinklers are included in national building codes, Maine chose to exempt them when adopting the code, said Sanford Fire Chief Jeff Rowe. In Sanford, residential subdivision developers have the option of installing residential sprinkler systems or can choose a fire pond or cistern to provide fire protection.
Cutrer, the town fire marshal, pointed out sprinkler technology has been around since the 1800s.
After both fires were doused, the difference was apparent: In the room with no sprinkler, the upholstered loveseat was unrecognizable; in the sprinkled room, the sofa was dirty and a bit charred ”“ but mostly wet.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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