Mail call

NFPA Journal, May/Jun 2001

If a sprinkler system had been in all four buildings, the damage would've been in the thousands of dollars [instead of] the hundreds of thousands. More importantly, the fires would never have reached flashover. All of the occupants would've been able to exit safely by normal means....

I strongly feel that fire protection in student housing must be accomplished by a systems approach, which includes the following components: smoke detection in every sleeping room and study room; a fire alarm system that includes smoke detection in all hallways, stairways, and common areas that sends a signal to a monitoring station or the local fire department... self-closing fire doors to student rooms, stairways, and long hallways; automatic sprinkler protection throughout the building, mandatory fire prevention training for all students; and regular fire drills.

I've found that if any one of these components is missing when a fire occurs that it will be more dangerous and damaging.

Henry L. Vaughan

Captain, Fire Inspector

Orono Fire Department

Orono, Maine