Hall of Flame

One of the most difficult tasks we have is to convince people that they are better off with a building that has a fire sprinkler system than one without. Even if it cost a few dollars more. The big problem is that fires in sprinklered buildings don't make the headlines. One thing we've seen is comments from a few thinking Fire Chiefs explaining to the media that a fire sprinkler system would have made a big difference in the outcome of a particular fire.

Walla! The Hall of Flame!!

• Minnetonka Fire Chief Joe Wallin was quoted on television when interviewed about an apartment building fire. "This fire would have done little damage if this building had been equipped with a fire sprinkler system."
  
  
• Scott Anderson, Maple Grove Fire Chief was quoted both on TV and in the newspaper on a March 21, 1998 apartment building fire.
  
  "If there had been sprinklers, the fire would have stayed in [the apartment where it started], and we would have been out of here in 30 minutes," said Anderson, standing just outside the charred apartment with a smoke detector buzzing in the background. Sprinklers are mandatory in new construction of multifamily dwellings in Maple Grove, Anderson said. But they would not have been required when Mallard Ridge was built eight to 10 years ago, he said.
  
  
• Steve Zaccard, St Paul Fire Marshal, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press after a high rise fire with multiple injuries, "the intense fire, which was confined to a single apartment in the 506 unit building is a frightening illustration of why such structures should be equipped with [fire] sprinklers". And, "Sprinklers would have put out or confined the fire to one unit. 96% of the time they can contain a fire with just one or two sprinkler heads."