That firefighter you mentioned that died while trying to save those kids was the son of my mother's neighbor - He of course did not grow up in Unity but on the South Shore of Boston. His poor mother still grieves.
It's a small world . . .
That firefighter you mentioned that died while trying to save those kids was the son of my mother's neighbor - He of course did not grow up in Unity but on the South Shore of Boston. His poor mother still grieves.
Since the main consideration here is the stove, I wonder if one could install a simple one-head sprinkler overhead of the stove plumbed to the house water. Get it when the fire is still in an early incipient stage, it could be all you need for a stove-induced fired. Just a thought.I think you have it pretty well covered . . . heck once you install some heat detectors your house will be better than mine. About the only thing you could add . . . and it would be quite a bit more money . . . would be a home sprinkler system as the survival rate with a sprinkler system in place is something like 80 or 85%.
It could probably be installed with a volume limiting device like a timer to minimize water damage when you are away, especially in the case of a malfunction.Year ago when I installed my oil boiler the local firechief/inspector strongly urged me to install a spinkler head on the boiler feedwater line that ran above my oil furnace. I did and there is sits 20 year later. I dont recommend it but I have accidently whacked it a few times and no leaks or deluges. I dont have one over my wood boiler but the one of two relief valves is piped directly into the combuston chamber. Luckilly i havent experienced that letting loose either.
Since the main consideration here is the stove, I wonder if one could install a simple one-head sprinkler overhead of the stove plumbed to the house water. Get it when the fire is still in an early incipient stage, it could be all you need for a stove-induced fired. Just a thought.
Do you have any specifics on how it was done, what kind of heads, etc?Actually I've seen this a few times over oil boilers . . . and our former Fire Inspector did this very thing when he built his new home . . . actually he sprinkled his entire downstairs area . . . it's not a code compliant sprinkler system, but it beats having nothing in its place.
Jake - what is the best fire extinguisher for a home owner to buy to have handy?Actually I've seen this a few times over oil boilers . . . and our former Fire Inspector did this very thing when he built his new home . . . actually he sprinkled his entire downstairs area . . . it's not a code compliant sprinkler system, but it beats having nothing in its place.
I think you have it pretty well covered . . . heck once you install some heat detectors your house will be better than mine. About the only thing you could add . . . and it would be quite a bit more money . . . would be a home sprinkler system as the survival rate with a sprinkler system in place is something like 80 or 85%.
I am curious, are these heads on a dead end leg off of the domestic water? I have seen/smelled the water from a dedicated fire sprinkler system, and would NEVER consider having a dead-ended (aka stagnant) branch line off of my domestic water lines.
Maybe with a reduced pressure double back flow preventer valves, but certainly NOT without one.
Cheers!
Do you have any specifics on how it was done, what kind of heads, etc?
Jake - what is the best fire extinguisher for a home owner to buy to have handy?
You don’t need a whole house sprinkler system. I recently installed a stove in my basement and installed 2 sprinkler heads in the area of the stove and piping; the heads cost about 15 bucks for both, a couple lengths of copper and 1hr of time. There connected to the house water supply. If I hired a plumber maybe another $200, a very small price to pay for peace of mind.
Granted most stoves are not in the basement with easily accessible piping, but many houses have the stoves on 1st floors with basements below, a wall mounted sprinkler head in the area of stove is not hard to do. Modern heads can have full flat white covers that can be painted to match the wall. Detectors are great and save more lives then get reported, but sprinklers are fire fighters ready to go 24/7
Hard to see on my screen, is Exhibit A an iced structure from firefighting efforts...
...or an excessive amount of cream cheese frosting on a gingerbread house?
(great, now I made myself hungry)
Cheers!
Do you have any specifics on how it was done, what kind of heads, etc?
I don't really know . . . I know he used his domestic water supply . . . used some heads that he had from some sprinkler companies. It wasn't an "approved" system.
It's likely true. I wanted to buy some bic-style lighters (just for workshop and general use, mind you) and found some very cheap ones on ebay or something. I looked into them and found that most of the cheap ones are made in China (no big surprise there) and have had a high incidence of failures like this one. The actual Bic brand lighters, as I recall, were the only brand that had a great reputation for safety and reliability. They may be made in China, too, for all I know, but at least they seem to make them well.
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