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News

Alert

NFPA Standards Council bans use of antifreeze in sprinkler systems for new residential construction
NFPA issues updated safety alert regarding antifreeze in new and existing residential sprinkler systems
            August 18, 2010 – The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards Council has banned the use of antifreeze solution in residential fire sprinkler systems for new construction until further action by NFPA consensus standards committees, and NFPA has issued a follow-up to its July 2010 safety alert to provide updated guidance on the use of antifreeze in residential fire sprinkler systems. The council action and updated alert follow new research that was conducted after a fire incident raised concerns about antifreeze solutions in residential fire sprinkler systems. The incident involved a grease fire in a kitchen where a sprinkler with a high concentration of antifreeze deployed. The fire resulted in a single fatality and serious injury to another person.
                “Fire sprinklers are one of the most effective ways to save lives and property from fire,” said James M. Shannon, president of NFPA. “We have acted quickly to conduct additional research in order to provide the public and our technical committees with as much information as possible regarding the use of antifreeze in sprinkler systems.”
                According to NFPA, the home is the place where most fire fatalities occur, and when sprinklers are present, the risk of dying in a home fire decreases by 83%.
                Shannon said the key findings from the new report were:

  • Antifreeze solutions with concentrations of propylene glycol exceeding 40% and concentrations of glycerin exceeding 50% have the potential to ignite when discharged through automatic sprinklers.
  • Both the 40% propylene glycol and 50% glycerin solutions demonstrated similar performance to that of water alone for fire control throughout the series of tests.
  • Based on the results of this research, antifreeze solutions of propylene glycol exceeding 40% and glycerin exceeding 50% are not appropriate for use in residential fire sprinkler systems.
  • Consideration should be given to reducing the acceptable concentrations of these antifreeze solutions by an appropriate safety factor.

                Based on the research, NFPA offered the following updated guidance on residential fire sprinklers systems:

New Systems
                NFPA standards prohibit the use of antifreeze in residential fire sprinkler systems in new construction following the August 16, 2010 issuance of tentative interim amendments (TIA) to NFPA 13, 13D and 13R. If you are putting in a new residential fire sprinkler system (including all NFPA 13D applications and the dwelling unit portions of NFPA 13 and NFPA 13R systems), refer to the latest editions of NFPA 13, NFPA 13D and NFPA 13R, as amended by TIAs 1000, 995, and 994.

Existing Systems

  • Fire sprinklers are extremely effective fire protection devices, significantly reducing deaths, injuries and property loss from fire. These systems should not be disconnected.
  • Residential fire sprinkler systems, whenever possible, should not contain an antifreeze solution.
  • If you have, or are responsible for, an existing residential occupancy with a fire sprinkler system, contact a sprinkler contractor to check and see if there is antifreeze solution in the system.
  • If there is antifreeze solution in the system, determine if other means, such as insulation, can be used to provide adequate freeze protection.
  • If there is no viable alternative to antifreeze solutions, NFPA recommends the following:
    • Use only propylene glycol or glycerin antifreeze solution.
    • The antifreeze solution should be the lowest possible concentration required for the needed freeze potential but under no circumstance should the antifreeze solution exceed a maximum concentration of 40% of propylene glycol or a maximum concentration of 50% of glycerin. Consideration should be given to reducing these concentrations by an additional safety factor.
    • The antifreeze solution should only be a factory pre-mixed; use of factory pre-mixed solutions is essential to ensure the proper concentration level and solution integrity.
    • Antifreeze solutions should only be used with the approval of the local authority having jurisdiction.

                The full NFPA Safety Alert Regarding Antifreeze in Residential Sprinkler Systems and more information on this topic can be found at http://www.nfpa.org/antifreeze.

"NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative" For more information, visit the NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative website.

FPC's Calendar Updates

September 10, 2010
Burn Aid Golf Classic
Emerald Greens
St. Louis, MO
Contact: Dennis Webb
(314) 771-5227, Fax 314-771-5886
E-mail: dwebb@guardianfirepro.com

September 13, 2010
14th Burn Aid Golf Classic
TPC Golf Course
Blaine, MN
Contact: Peg Bohn
(651) 452-8506
E-mail: pegbohn@aol.com

September 14, 2010
Canadian Automatic Sprinkler
Association Ontario Regional
Golf Tournament
Benefitting Camp BUCKO (Burn Camp for Kids in Ontario) and
The Hospital for Sick Children
Royal Woodbine Golf Club
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Contact: Sean Pearce
(905) 477-2270
www.casa-firesprinkler.org

September 15, 2010
17th AFSA-VA Chapter Burn
Survivors Golf Tournament
Hunting Hawk Golf Course
Glen Allen, VA
Contact: George Wagner, Exec. Dir.
(804) 514-3154
E-mail: wagnerg@mindspring.com

September 20, 2010
4th Michael Minger
Golf Classic
Hermitage, President’s
Reserve Golf Course
Nashville, TN
Contact: Gail Minger
(850) 621-5161
E-mail: minger4family@aol.com

September 20, 2010 
Mid Atlantic AFSA Chapter’s
18th Charity Golf Outing
Old York Road Country Club
Spring House, PA
Contact: Glenn Cooper
(215) 659-0676
E-mail: glenn.cooper@gmcooper.com
Jay Stough, (215) 345-8066
Email: jays@tilleyfire.com
Deb Covino, (215) 794-2978
Email: mikewdeb@aol.com

September 22, 2010
21st TxFSCA Charity Golf Classic
Trophy Club Country Club
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Contact: Carol McCain
(281) 361-8069
E-mail: info@txfsca.org
Website: www.txfsca.org

September 29-October 3, 2010
AFSA Annual Meeting
Providence, RI
Contact: AFSA
Website: www.firesprinkler.org

October 4, 2010 
Central Ohio Chapter/SFPE 21st OSU Burn Center Golf Outing
The Golf Club at Muirfield Village
Dublin, OH
Contact: Robert (Bob) Dawson
SimplexGrinnell
(614) 602-2024, Fax 614-602-2011
E-mail: rdawson@simplexgrinnell.com

October 11, 2010
16th KFSCA Foundation
Charity Golf Scramble
Cardinal Club Golf Course
Simpsonville, KY
Contact: Angela Underwood
E-mail: angela@ksae.com
Website: www.kfsca.org

October 14, 2010
Fire Sprinkler Contractors
Assn. of Southern California
14th Charity Golf Tournament
Los Serranos Golf Club
Chino, CA
Contact: Larry Seligman
(626) 673-5345
Kraig Kirschner, AFCON
(626) 444-0541, Fax 626-444-3887
E-mail: info@afcon.org

October 18, 2010
GFSA Bob Mccullough
Memorial Golf Tournament
Hamilton Mill Golf Club
Dacula, Georgia
Contact: Scott Donnelly
Challenge Fire Protection
(770) 682-0692
E-mail: CFPSPRNKLR@aol.com

October 20, 2010
16th Ken Houston
Memorial Golf Tournament
Rock Barn Golf & Spa
Conover, NC
Contact: Chuck Bramley
HD Supply - Fire Protection
(704) 784-4700
E-mail: william.bramley@hdsupply.com
AFSA Carolinas Chapter
(336) 885-5007
E-mail: afsa@vikingsoutheast.com

November 3-4, 2010
10th International Water Mist Conference
Prague, Czech Republic
Contact: Matthias Ecke
International Water Mist Association
Biederitzer Str. 5, 39175
Heyrothsberge, Germany
Phone + 49 392 92 690 - 25, Fax -26
Mobile +49 175 415 33 66
E-mail: info@iwma.net

November 8-12, 2010
Sprinkler and Other Automatic Fire Suppression Systems
Madison, WI
Contact: Bob Mincberg
Marketing Director
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Engineering Professional Development
432 N. Lake St.
Madison, WI  53706
mincberg@epd.engr.wisc.edu
http://epd.engr.wisc.edu/webL149

December 3, 2010  
8th Golf & Wine Tour Gala
Poppy Ridge Golf Course
Livermore, CA
Lorelei Ostrander
AFSA Greater Bay Area Chapter
(925) 913-0145, (925) 600-7023
E-mail: lorelei@cafsa.org

More Dates by Organization
Visit Websites for more information.

AFSA, Web: www.firesprinkler.org
    Beginning Fire Sprinkler System Planning School, October 11-22, 2010;  Layout School for Residential One- & Two-Family Dwellings; August 23-27, 2010 — Dallas, TX

NFSA, Web: www.nfsa.org

NFPA, Web: www.nfpa.org
Installation of Sprinkler Systems (NFPA 13)
September 13-15, 2010 — Charlotte, NC
September 20-22, 2010 — Reno (Sparks), NV
September 27-29, 2010 — Secaucus, NJ
October 18-20, 2010 — St. Louis, MO
October 25-27, 2010 — Quincy, MA
October 25-27, 2010 — Denver, CO   
November 1-3, 2010 — Oak Brook, IL  
November 8-10, 2010 — Seattle, WA
November 15-17, 2010 — Pittsburgh (Mars), PA   
December 6-8, 2010 — Garden Grove (Anaheim), CA   
December 13-15, 2010 — Orlando, FL
Also see one- and two-day courses on:
Sprinkler Hydraulics ; Plan Review; Fire Pumps;
Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance.

BlazeMaster®, Web: www.blazemastertraining.com
Installers Online Training Program

FMI, Web: www.fminet.com
2010 Program and Workshop Calendar

Fire Tech Productions, Web: www.firetech.com

Oklahoma State University, Web: www.ce.ceat.okstate.edu
Fire Technology On-Line Classroom — Basic Principles of Automatic Fire Sprinkler Protection; Fire Protection Hydraulics & Water Supply Analysis; Review and Evaluation of Automatic Sprinkler System Plans and Design.

   
FPC's Question of the Month

Do you know of any Women in the fire sprinkler Industry?
Please tell us about her, and include your name, co. name, city, & state. Please tell us what you think!
Please send your reply today. Also, please send photos, and advise us if you wish to remain anonymous.


Featured Websites

Fire Protection Educational and Training Resources:
Fire Smarts, LLC

Fire Sprinkler History:
"History of Mather & Platt Ltd." (And Grinnell) By Marcel Boschi + David Drew-Smythe: http://home.zipworld.com.au/~lnbdds/Boschi/

Certification: "The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET)" For more information, visit theNICET website.

"NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative" For more information, visit the NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative website.

"Fire Sprinkler Coalition" For more information, visit the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition website.

"Campus FireWatch" For more information, visit the Campus FireWatch website.

"Fire Sprinkler Academy" For more information, visit the Fire Sprinkler Academy website.

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Please go to our Editorial Page for our Calendar and Guidelines.
Be heard! Submit your articles, opinions, and letters today!

Please see our Editorial Page for more information or E-mail Us!



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