[Press Release] : Automatic fire sprinkler system saves a life - prevents fire damage to apartment complex

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Battalion Chief Steven Sapp - (573) 499-7035

Automatic fire sprinkler system saves a life - prevents fire damage to
apartment complex

COLUMBIA, MO (January 1, 2006) -- Columbia firefighters responded to a
report of an automatic fire alarm at the Grindstone Canyon Apartments
located at 3101 Old Highway 63 South, Building D, Apt. 107, at 2:24 a.m.
on Monday, Jan. 1. 

Firefighters entered the apartment, which was filled with light smoke,
and found a person identified as Michael P. Quinn, 18, who was
semi-responsive lying on the floor near the kitchen area. A dog was
sitting beside Quinn. 

Firefighters removed Quinn from the apartment to an awaiting ambulance
from University Hospitals. Quinn was treated on the scene for smoke
inhalation and burn injuries to his left shoulder before being
transported to University Hospital for treatment. Quinn’s injuries are
believed to be non-life threatening. The dog did not appear to be
suffering any injury from the fire and was relinquished to another
resident of the apartment complex. 

Grindstone Canyon Apartments was required by fire and building codes to
be equipped with automatic fire sprinklers, smoke detection and a fire
alarm system. All of these systems functioned as designed and the fire
sprinkler system is credited with probably saving Quinn’s life; at the
very least preventing additional burn and smoke inhalation injuries, as
well as stopping the spread of the fire. 

Fire investigators have pieced together the following sequence of
events. Quinn was asleep on a futon in the living room area of the
apartment. Evidence suggests that Quinn had consumed substantial
quantities of intoxicants and hence his reaction to danger was impaired.
The fire, caused by a cigarette, began on the cushion of the futon where
Quinn was lying. The smoke detection device in the living room - kitchen
area had been removed from the ceiling most likely by the apartment
resident. When the heat from the fire reached the sprinkler head in the
living room area it activated, causing the fire alarm to notify Public
Safety Joint Communications. Columbia Fire was dispatched and the
sprinkler system extinguished the fire. Because Quinn was intimate with
the fire, lying on the Futon where the fire began, he suffered smoke and
burn injuries. 

Had the fire sprinkler and fire alarm system not been in place, it is
very probable that Quinn would have suffered extensive burn and smoke
inhalation injuries, possibly death, and the fire damage to the
apartment and probably the building would have been significant. 

Damage to the apartment and the building is estimated at less than
$8,000. 

Fire sprinkler systems are designed to activate based on the heat
generated by the fire. Only when temperatures at the sprinkler head
reach 155 - 165 degrees will the fire sprinkler head activate. The
common myth perpetuated by Hollywood movies is that when the fire
sprinkler system activates, all fire sprinkler heads in the building
activate. This is simply not true. According to statistics from the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the majority of fires in
fire sprinklered buildings are controlled or extinguished by the
activation of a single fire sprinkler head. 

While some building owners still fear that activation of a fire
sprinkler head will cause more water damage than the fire, this is
simply not true either. Solid data shows that when a fire occurs in a
fire sprinklered building, the total damage is one-third of the amount
of damage in a non fire sprinklered building. 

- 30 -
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