Fire on the Steps of City Hall, Philadelphia
On Nov 10 2022 the NFSA Mid Atlantic Team in partnership with Councilman Squilla, Common Voices, and Fire Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 692, successfully did a fire sprinkler burn outside city hall in downtown Philadelphia. A HUGE thank you to all of our members that came out to support the initiative of better fire protection in the city by retrofitting fire sprinklers in residential high-rise occupancies. It was a GREAT EVENT!
The NFSA PenJerDel Chapter has been working in lock step with Councilmember Mark Squilla on Bill 220299. If the bill passes, the city of Philadelphia will retrofit the residential high-rise buildings in the city limits affording fire protection to all the tenants that reside in those residential high-rise occupancies. Having fire sprinklers in residential high-rise occupancies vastly minimizes losses by keeping fires small or putting them out altogether. Small blazes cause less direct burn damage and fewer interruptions and require far less water to extinguish.
The volume of water sprayed by a sprinkler can seem like a lot, but the 8-24 gallons per minute that’s discharged from a residential sprinkler head is nothing compared to the 80-125 gallons per minute that a fire hose puts out. Having fire sprinklers in the residential high-rise buildings of Philadelphia will be a huge win for the fire protection and prevention space and in the end, save countless lives for years to come.
