Keeping a fire under control

Ten seconds: That is the amount of time before an average residential room's sprinkler system activates after a fire begins. On a drizzly Friday, Penn staff and students and local community members witnessed the near-immediate effect of overhead sprinklers during the Division of Public Safety PennReady Health and Safety Fair.

The event on Rodin Field at 39th Street and Locust Walk, coordinated by the Fire and Emergency Services Team at Public Safety, featured MERT community outreach officers giving a hands-only CPR demonstration, and tables lined Locust Walk with information and giveaways from the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, Office of Risk Management, Mission Continuity, Wellness at Penn, and many others. Penn Dining held a "firehouse chili cookoff," and a long line of attendees sampled various chilis.

Paul Gentile with Penn's Mission Continuity Program handed out emergency toolkits and praised Public Safety. "It's thanks to DPS that Penn's campus is the safest place in the city."

Chief Gene Janda, who leads Public Safety's Department of Fire and Emergency Services, previously served 23 years with the Philadelphia Fire Department. Janda is well-versed in fire safety and emergency preparedness. "We hold this event every year to make sure everyone is always fire ready. Not only on campus but at home as well." He added, "today's demonstration will show how fast a fire can grow and how quickly a fire can be controlled by fire sprinkler technology."

Janda emceed the event, encouraging the community to appreciate the importance of fire safety. When asked about the message of the side-by-side burn, Janda said, "Sprinklers save lives, protect property, and preserve processes." He continued, "When you hear a fire alarm, get up, get out, account, and stay alive."

Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson addressed the crowd with sobering but necessary facts. Year-to-date, there have been 30 fire deaths in the city of Philadelphia. The No. 1 leading cause of fire is unattended cooking, followed by electrical wiring with overloaded circuits; the third is open flames, including unattended candles. To keep safe, Thompson said, ensure living spaces have working fire alarms. Next, he advised: "Close before you doze. Before you go to bed, close your bedroom door. A closed door can hold back combustion." And have an escape plan and meeting place for the household. "Once you're out," he said, "stay out."

At 12:30 p.m., the National Fire Sprinkler Association conducted a fire demonstration of a sprinkler system in a residential room, and a residential room without sprinklers, represented by a storage unit compartment divided in two alongside a large standing timer. Three firefighters stood at the ready, including Sergil Adams, a firefighter with Philadelphia's Engine 5 A platoon. His job was to deliver the water to his partner holding the hose, when the time was right. John Waters, a retired fire fighter who served in Upper Marion, described in minute-by-minute detail the exact timing.

"These are the standards the fire department has to meet," Waters began. "911 has to answer the phone within 15 seconds. The operator has one minute to gather info and dispatch. Engine companies have 80 seconds to hit the street, that all totals two minutes, 35 seconds to leave the station." And lastly, trucks have four minutes to arrive at the scene. In total, the time between a fire is detected by a fire alarm and the fire department arrives is six minutes and 35 seconds. In a standard room, a flashover-when a room is fully engulfed in flame-happens in three minutes, four seconds.

On Rodin Field, the two residential room models sat side-by-side, kitted out with standard dorm room objects and furniture. When the moment of flashover hit, Rodin Field filled briefly with a cloud of dark, acrid smoke. This was the cue for Adams and his partner to put out the fire.

At right, a residential room replica with the same dimensions began to smoke before a flame appeared, and a modest line of smoke reached the fire detector. This replica was outfitted with an overhead sprinkler system. The large timer reached 10 seconds, the sprinkler system was activated, and the fire was extinguished. After watching the dorm room replica on the left burn for several minutes, the speed of the sprinkler system brought an audible gasp from the crowd.

"Ten seconds is crazy," a student remarked.