THE “INFALLIBILITY” OF SPRINKLER SYSTEMS.

THE “INFALLIBILITY” OF SPRINKLER SYSTEMS.

Espsecially written for FIRE AND WATER ENGINEERING)

一次关于洒水系统的绝对可靠性的争议似乎是他们的支持。另一方面，它相当不过。有些人与助理经理布劳维尔特（Blauvelt）在一起。在西方工厂协会中，如果芝加哥的易洛魁剧院受到这样的保护保护，大火将立即扑灭。Blauvelt先生是该主题的爱好者，他进行了特殊研究。同时，他承认，普通的洒水管道是在适度高度的天花板下使用的，并且不能在舞台大火上安全地遵循草稿和燃料的其他条件，但是在安排管道和间距方面没有特殊的机械困难将是合适的。他的这一说法的理由是基于这样一个事实，即剧院舞台室的高度是普通房间的五倍到七倍，需要临时施用水的速度比普通火灾高十到十五倍。因此，他建议在舞台区域的每平方英尺每平方英尺大约三分之三的舞台室内分配能力，从舞台到天窗的高度每十英尺。纽约市消防巡逻队在1903年的风险中回答了三十三个警报，总损失的建筑物为8,899.95美元，其中内容物的损失为79,450.91美元，尚未调整三个小损失。 In nine instances the fire was entirely controled by the sprinkler system, while in five others the fire was held in check by the sprinklers till the fire department arrived. The advocates of sprinklers as being virtually the only adequate protection for fires, especially in theatres, do not, however, always take into consideration the possibilities of the dangers arising from rust and such like causes, which prevent the sprinkler heads from opening freely— sometimes from opening at all; from miscalculation as to the proper amount of water supply; from the system not being up-to-date: from its being handicapped by obstructions; from its not being properly supplemented by automatic fire alarms, night watchmen and the like; and, not least, from the sprinklers freezing, against which proper precautions are too often not taken. To the last mentioned cause during the recent spell of intensely cold weather, was undoubtedly due the failure of several systems to act. The instance occurred on the night of January 6 at West Millbury, Mass., when the two-story brick Hayle & Windle shoddy mill sustained a fifty per cent. loss. The building was equipped with sprinklers, supplied only by an 8,000 gallon tank fourteen feet above the roof. The fire started while the watchman was in the boiler house, the thermometer being ten degrees above zero. Hearing the water flowing from the sprinkler, he at once rang the mill’s alarm bell. The assistance from without was poor and delayed, and the hydrant in the yard was frozen. After the fire it was found that there was ice in the main sprinkler pipe above the check. It seems probable, therefore, that this was the cause of the sprinklers failing to control the fire, although the assured claims that the sprinklers operated. Another fire— that which destroyed the building of the Turners' Falls Lumber company at Gill, Mass., on the night of December 31, 1903, illustrates the comparative merits of watchmen or alarm systems and the need for proper supplies for sprinkler systems. The building was equipped with sprinklers supplied by a private reservoir giving twenty-seven pounds pressure, and a rotary pump located in the basement. The fire was discovered at 2 o’clock a. m., and the watchman had gone his rounds as usual, hut had evidently died suddenly or been caught by the machinery and died before midnight, as the electric lights were seen burning after 12 a. m, which was against his practice. When discovered, the fire had gained too great a headway to he extinguished by the local hand tub; the steamer from Millbury was late in arriving, and the hydrant in the yard was frozen. After the fire it was found that the sprinkler and valves were in good condition, and that they had probably held the fire for a while They were, however, obstructed by benches, etc., which, had the watchman been alive, would probably have been removed, so as to give them fair room for working. As it was, the fire must have opened a large number of heads, and these sprinklers so reduced the water pressure, which was poor at best, that the flames gained enough headway to get beyond their control. There was water enough on hand to start the pump, but the reservoir supply was not adequate to cope with a large fire.