Fire Protection FAQs

Your overall fire protection system is one of the most important things you have in your building. Between your fire sprinkler system, fire extinguishers, fire alarms and exit lights, it’s imperative you keep your systems in proper working order at all times. However, many people are unclear on exactly what their fire protection systems actually do and how they work. At Guardian Fire Protection, we want our customers to have the best information possible about their fire protection systems. That’s why we put together this list of the most common questions we get!

• Fire Sprinkler FAQs
• Fire Extinguisher FAQs
• Fire Alarm FAQs

Fire Sprinkler FAQs

How to fire sprinklers work?

Wet pipe fire sprinklers hold water in a network of pipes hidden in your ceiling, held back at a certain pressure by your fire sprinkler heads. The fire sprinklers themselves are sealed by a small bulb filled with a head sensitive liquid. When the liquid gets hot enough, it expands and bursts the bulb, causing water to shoot out of the sprinkler head. This lowers the pressure in the pipe network, causing the fire pump to kick on and supply more water.

Can fire sprinklers be set off by smoke?

No – they are only activated by heat (and accidental tampering, of course).

Don’t fire sprinklers cause water damage?

Potentially. But consider the alternative: either your building burns down, or the fire department arrives and basically floods your building until the fire dies down (remember, fire sprinklers deliver about 18 gpm, whereas firefighter hoses deliver 60 or more!).

If one fire sprinkler goes off, do they all go off?

Not unless they need to. Remember, sprinkler heads are individually activated by heat, meaning they will only go off in direct response to a fire in their location.

Fire Extinguisher FAQs

How many fire extinguishers do I need in my building?

While the exact number of fire extinguishers required for each building varies based on the hazard level of your building, as a general rule of thumb you space Class A fire extinguishers no more than 75ft from each other and Class B fire extinguishers no more than 50ft from each other.

What do the letters and numbers by the fire extinguisher classification mean?

Every fire extinguisher has an alphanumeric rating that tells you what types of fires it can extinguish as well as the size of fire it can put out.

The letters stand for the class of fire the extinguisher can be used against:

The numbers indicate how much of the fire can be put out by the fire extinguisher:

Every number before the A means it is as effective as 1 ¼ gallons of water. For example, 2A means the fire extinguisher is as effective as 2 ½ gallons of water, and so on. The numbers before B and C are a measure of the amount of square feet the fire extinguisher can put out. A 10:B:C fire extinguisher can extinguish a fire over 10 sq ft.

How often do I need fire extinguisher inspection?

Normal fire extinguisher inspections are required once a month to make sure there is no obvious damage to the device and that the fire extinguisher pressure is adequate. In addition, full fire extinguisher maintenance is required once every year and a fire extinguisher hydro test is required every 12 years.

What kind of fire extinguisher do I need in my commercial kitchen?

If you own a restaurant, you already know you need a special type of fire suppression system to keep your kitchen safe from fires. But did you know you also need a special type of fire extinguisher too? Fires that commonly occur in commercial kitchens, such as grease fires, are referred to as Class K and require a special Class K fire extinguisher to knock them down and prevent reflash.

What is the best type of fire extinguisher for sensitive electrical equipment?

If you have sensitive electronic equipment, such as in a computer room or data center, you probably don’t want to put out fires with a water based fire extinguisher. Instead, use a clean agent fire such as a Cleanguard FE 36 (made by Ansul) or a Halotron I (made by Amerex) fire extinguisher.

Halotron I – Halotron I discharges as a rapidly evaporating liquid that leaves no residue. It does not conduct electricity and is suitable to fight Class A, B and C fires.

Cleanguard FE 36 – the Cleanguard FE 36 is quickly proving to be a suitable replacement for Halon 1211. The Cleanguard extinguisher has comparable performance and efficiency to Halon 1211 but is less toxic and has zero ozone depletion potential.

Fire Alarm FAQs

What kinds of fire alarms are there?

The most important thing to know about fire alarms is that there are two types – ionization and photoelectric. Ionization fire alarms detect flaming, fast moving fires – curtain fires, trash can fires, etc. Photoelectric fire alarms are best for smoky, smoldering fires, such as electrical fires that start out behind walls. There are also dual sensor fire alarms which, naturally, combine both types into one.

Do I need a fire alarm system if I have a fire sprinkler system installed?

Short answer: yes. Even though fire sprinkler systems are highly effective fire protection systems, they only kick into gear after the fire has already started and the heat has risen to a certain level. Fire alarm systems, particularly smoke detectors, can detect smoke and other gases before the flames start, giving you extra time to escape the building. They can also automatically alert the fire department.

Is fire alarm monitoring worth it?

If you value your building and want to make sure it’s protected at all times, absolutely. A fire alarm monitoring service will keep tabs on your building 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If one of your fire alarms goes off, the monitoring company will notify the fire department within seconds – you don’t even have to be there. Everyone has heard horror stories of people showing up to work and seeing the charred wreckage of what was once their office (and all their equipment, data, etc.) – don’t let this happen to you!

Why does my fire alarm constantly chirp or beep?

Most smoke alarms will chirp at regular intervals to indicate that their batteries are low. If your fire alarms seem to be chirping at random intervals, there could be one of a number of things going on:

The battery may be loose or improperly installed – make sure the battery fits properly in the battery slot. Otherwise, the connections may not make good contact with the battery. If the battery wasn’t put into the slot properly, just pop it out and put it back in.

The fire alarm cover may be dirty – over time, dust and dead bugs can collect in the sensor chamber of your fire alarm, causing it to chirp. Make sure you keep the sensor chamber clean (the easiest way to do this is to vacuum it out every time you change the batteries. If the room in which you want to install the smoke detector is especially dusty, install an ionization fire alarm so the dust doesn’t affect it.

The fire alarm may need to be reset – most new electronic fire alarms come with logic boards that tell the alarm to chirp when the battery gets low. Unfortunately, replacing the battery doesn’t always stop the chirping! Sometimes you need to hit the RESET button in order to ensure the smoke detector works properly.

Power to the fire alarm has been interrupted – a power surge could interrupt power to the fire alarm, causing it to chirp when the power is restored. Hitting the RESET button should take care of the problem.

The fire alarm may need to be replaced – if all else fails, you may need to have your fire alarm replaced. Fortunately, fire alarms are relatively inexpensive and replacing them is no problem.

If you have any additional questions about your fire protection system, or if you need fire sprinkler inspection, fire extinguisher replacement or any other fire protection system service, don’t wait – call the fire protection professionals at Guardian Fire Protection today!