firesprinkler.tv Fire sprinkler

Investigators look at the destroyed portion of the Days Inn in Hoover, Ala., on Monday Jan. 18, 2009. Four college students were killed in the fire Saturday night. The wooden structure built in the early 1960s had not been retrofitted with sprinklers. (The Birmingham News/ Mark Almond)A deadly fire at a 45-year-old Hoover hotel a week ago shows the need for older hotels to be retro

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District has withdrawn a proposed ordinance that would have revised sprinkler laws in Menlo Park after new state fire codes made the changes largely unnecessary, a fire chief said Monday.

Chief Harold Schapelhouman said the proposed ordinance, which was scheduled to come before the Menlo Park City Council tonight, would have required the installation of sprinkler systems in new residences or businesses of 1,000 square feet or larger or in any building with a basement bigger than 250 square feet.

It also would have mandated that owners of structures larger than 2,500 square feet

December 10, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Hundreds of Chicago firefighters were needed to put out a deadly high-rise fire early Thursday morning.

Flames shot out of the condo building at 260 East Chestnut in the Streeterville neighborhood. More than 200 residents ran out into the bitter cold after the fire broke out shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday.

Investigators say the fire started on the 36th floor in the unit of the woman who died, 84-year-old Beata Bihl.

“She was found in the front of the apartment toward the door, trying to make an escape,” said Commissioner John Brooks of the Chicago fire department

full story

Vacuum-magnate James Dyson knows that a little competition can go a long way toward innovation. He recently awarded the design students behind an “Automist” home fire sprinkler with the top honor in his namesake design contest, a prize of $16,500 (along with another $16,500 for their university department). The project had to beat out 400 projects from 21 countries in four rounds of judging, with Dyson himself making the final decision.

Dyson also picked two runners up that represent similarly impressive accomplishments. A “Pressure Alert” system helps physicians safely insert a breathing tube into a patient’s airway, and a folding three-prong plug that provides more mobile recharging for laptop users. Get the low-down on the details of each project here.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Standing in front of side-by-side demonstration homes, Maryland state Fire Marshal Bill Bernard watches as the one without fire sprinklers goes up in flames, the

Hoover is the latest city in the Birmingham metro area to consider adopting controversial codes that calls for fire sprinkler systems to be installed in new homes beginning in 2011.

City Executive Allen Pate said the city, at this point, is only considering adoption of the 2009 International Code, as a way to keep its current ISO 3 rating for building inspections and code compliance. The rating helps keep the city’s and homeowners’ insurance premiums at a low rate, Pate said.

The Washington-based International Code Council sets the 2009 International Residential Code, which includes a requirement for fire sprinklers in all new one- and two-family homes beginning Jan. 1, 2011.

A small kitchen fire was extinguished Monday night by an automatic fire sprinkler in a Sioux Falls apartment building, fire officials said.

A tenant at Foxmoor Apartments, 5007 W. Equestrian Place, was cooking when oil in a pan overheated and ignited shortly before 10 p.m. Sioux Falls Fire Rescue responded to the building, near Marion Road and 18th Street, but the sprinkler automatically activated and sprayed water to put the fire out, according to Sioux Falls Fire Rescue.

No damage to the apartment, other than wet carpet, was reported.