NYSAFC Partners with Local High School Building Trades Students to Highlight Effectiveness of Home Fire Sprinklers
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NYSAFC celebrated Fire Prevention Week 2017 with activities designed to increase public awareness of the life-saving benefits of home fire sprinklers. These activities also helped the association educate the next generation of home builders about fire sprinklers and their importance in new home construction. Construction technology students from the Rensselaer Educational Center – Questar III BOCES in Troy, NY and students in the building maintenance program at the University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men in Rochester, NY each constructed a pair of "pods" as part of the initiative. Both pods simulated a typical room in a home and were complete with everyday household furnishings. One unit was equipped with a home fire sprinkler and the other was left unprotected. The participating students gained practical construction experience in building the structures. More importantly, they also learned about fire codes and fire safety, the importance of home fire sprinklers, and how a sprinkler system is installed and operates.
Live fire demonstrations were held on October 7, 2017, in Rochester, NY and October 12, 2017, in Troy, NY. In both demonstrations, students, teachers, the media, and the public witnessed the effectiveness of a sprinkler system in quickly controlling a fire. NYSAFC representatives narrating the event reminded the audience that a sprinkler system’s fast response allows residents more time to safely escape and reduces property damage from fire. The audience was also reminded that the sprinkler system prevented the unit from reaching flashover, which occurs when the temperature of the room is so high that the contents of the room spontaneously ignite.
The Rochester Fire Department and Troy Fire Department provided fire suppression assistance at the event in their respective community.
View coverage of the Rochester demonstration by Spectrum News Rochester. The Troy Record and WRGB CBS 6 News covered the Troy demonstration. Also view NYSAFC’s Facebook page for photos from both events.
This activity was supported by grant awards from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program. The National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) and Interstate Fire & Safety generously donated sprinkler components for the demonstrations.
NYSFAC will be conducting similar sprinkler demonstrations at other BOCES sites throughout the state in upcoming weeks. For more information about NYSAFC’s Sprinkler Awareness Project, please email NYSAFC Grants Administrator Sue Syzdek.
To learn more about the benefits of home fire sprinklers, visit NYSAFC’s online Home Fire Sprinkler Advocacy & Awareness Toolbox here.
Pictured above: Students from Questar III BOCES view the damage in the unsprinklered pod at the demonstration in Troy.
