Preventing Fire Sprinkler Flooding

6/11/2021 (Permalink)

Fires Sprinklers in a Commercial Building

Many commercial business owners probably don’t think about the flooding effects of their fire sprinklers being activated. However, if this does occur, it is an issue that should be dealt with immediately, before it gets out of control and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Of course, the obvious solution is preventing your businesses fire sprinklers from going off accidentally. Here are a few things you need to know about accidental fire sprinkler activation. 

Preventing Accidental Fire Sprinkler Activation

Did you know that the modern fire sprinkler system is NOT activated by fire alarms or even smoke caused by burnt food in the employee break room? They actually have to be subjected to extreme heat that melts the metal sensors or bursts the red liquid bulb on the device. Here are a few common reasons that can cause this to happen and sprinklers to accidentally activate: 

• Improper fire sprinkler system installation
• Vandalization of the system
• A factory accident
• Inappropriate use of the sprinkler heads

Preventing Loss by Taking Immediate Action

If the fire sprinklers do activate in your business, your first step should be to turn off the water. This is the first and most important step in any emergency flooding situation. Make sure that you have multiple people in your organization that know how to perform this task. Once the water is turned off, the next step is to begin the clean up process. With fire sprinklers, it is possible that hundreds of gallons of water have been released in a short period of time.

Therefore, water damage to machinery, equipment, electronics, walls and floors can happen very quickly. You should call a reputable and experienced water restoration company right away! The professionals at SERVPRO can quickly and properly dry every surface and reduce the risk of mold. 

Preventing It from Happening Again

Once you have your initial cleanup underway, you should contact your insurance provider and work on preventing this from happening again. Your employees should be trained to never hang anything from the sprinkler head, or even touch it! You should also consider the placement of sprinkler heads. They should be in a location in which it is difficult for person, or even a machine, to accidentally come in contact with it. 

While a flood in your business may seem inconceivable, you should take these steps to minimize damage in the event this does happen. If you do experience water damage in your commercial property, give us a call.