Sprinkling a little light on fire safety
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
The New Zealand Fire Service wants sprinkler systems included in all new homes within 10 years. A visiting United States fire chief gave talks throughout the country this month supporting the idea that sprinklers be installed in new homes and become a part of all alterations. ?It?s very heartening to hear of the success they are having with sprinklers in North America,? says Wellington Fire Service engineer James Firestone. In the US sprinklers are now required for all new one and two family dwellings. Mr Firestone says people are most at risk from fire in the home, a structure rigged up with an abundance of water. The addition of sprinkler heads to domestic plumbing would almost eliminate the issue of house fires. ?We want to change the way New Zealand approaches the sprinkler idea. ?All you need to do is enhance the plumbing to incorporate sprinkler technology,? says Mr Firestone. Presently only 0.3 percent of new homes are built with sprinklers, around three per 1000. Mr Firestone says the water pumped into houses everyday should be better utilised. ?By joining the dots [and installing sprinklers] you are extracting another benefit from what is already there,? he says. A ballpark figure for including sprinklers when building a new $300K home is around $6 thousand, a figure that would reduce when the practice becomes more widespread. Mr Firestone says although smoke alarms are highly recommended, they are not a failsafe for stopping a fire. ?Smoke alarms just alert you, what if you?re on medication, intoxicated, listening to music. ?Alarms are great but they are not a 100 percent guarantee,? he says. The fire service is up against NZ Building Code that is ?quite minimalist and unfortunately has a cheap and nasty approach to home building in New Zealand?. ?It might be ok if the houses were cheap to buy, but they are pretty dear ... and they are not built to last,? Mr Firestone says. For businesses that normally have sprinkler systems, Mr Firestone says electrical fires are predominantly caused by overloading electrical circuits or damage to electric cords. ?That is where most electrical fires start, cords that have been yanked out and damaged. ?It?s usually not a result of a malfunction,? he says. Having the fuse-box checked yearly to ensure connections are tight is critical. For home owners, keeping clutter to a minimum is a good safety check as loose items catch alight the fastest. ?The first three items to light up will be clutter; boxes, curtains, toys, and the last thing will be the house structure itself. ?Kitchen fires usually begin because of distraction; when the phone rings and they leave the stove on or the microwave going,? says Mr Firestone.
