Fire marshals in West Haven are encouraging people to get a sprinkler system in their home in case a fire breaks out and they demonstrated the importance of having one by showing what happens in the event of fire.
Fire marshals used two rooms to demonstrate. One had only a smoke detector, while the second room was equipped with only a sprinkler system.
The room with the smoke detector went up in flames in about a minute and 20 seconds. It was a total loss.
"What happens is, the smoke detector goes off -- you have to make a decision. Can I get out of this house? And how quickly can I get out of the house? So that’s where the sprinkler comes into play," West Haven fire marshal, Keith Flood, said.
The fire in the room with the sprinkler system was more contained once the sprinkler went off after 32 seconds.
“The national average for response time for fire departments once they receive a call is four to six minutes. You saw this room completely flash over in less than two minutes. After flashover, no one could escape that fire. You cannot get out of that house,” Tim Travers, of the National Fire Protection Association, said.
People were killed in a fire in New Britain on Nov. 27 and on in Willimantic on Nov. 30 and neither home had a sprinkler system. Each of them were older-model homes.
Federal building codes in the U.S. now require fire sprinklers in new one and two-family homes.
Officials from the Connecticut Fire Sprinkler Coalition said the systems have been proven to reduce the damage and deaths associated with home structure fires:
For instance, sprinklers reduce fire deaths by about 80 percent and reduce direct property damage per fire by about 70 percent.
In 2011 and 2012, more than 8,600 residential fires caused nearly 40 deaths and more than $364 million in property damage in Connecticut.
Fire officials encourage those who don’t have a sprinkler system, to put one in their home. They average about $1.35 per square foot , which is similar to the price of a carpet upgrade.
