Having fire sprinklers in your home, especially if your home is of substantial size, is a definite plus. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a fire can grow from a small flame to fully engulfing a room in less than three minutes. FEMA states that sprinklers, coupled with smoke alarms, can increase your chance of surviving a fire by more than 82 percent—and reduce home fire damage by up to 97 percent. This is mainly because fire sprinklers, which are triggered by heat, will activate within 30-60 seconds, faster than local firefighters can respond.

A homeowner in Surfside, Florida recently experienced the upside of residential fire sprinklers when a fire broke out in her home. But she also experienced a downside- fire sprinkler water damage. Fire sprinklers do their job thoroughly and completely, keeping fire damage to a minimum. But they leave behind some damage of their own, water damage.

According to the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, one study showed that sprinklers used an estimated 341 gallons of water to control the average fire. This is much less than the more than 2,000 gallons that firefighters averaged in the same study. However, it is still over 300 gallons of potential fire sprinkler water damage for the homeowner to deal with, coupled with fire damage.

The homeowner in Surfside placed an after-hours emergency call to Joe Taylor Restoration (JTR) to address the downside of fire sprinklers. For this homeowner, the fire sprinkler water damage affected the master bedroom, master bathroom, master closet, kitchen, living room, dining room, guest bathroom, guest bedroom, and guest closet. In the kitchen, where the fire occurred, the fire sprinklers saturated all appliances and the ceiling above the kitchen sink.

The technicians at JTR had to remove the carpets, toe kicks, and baseboards in the affected areas. A large amount of equipment had to be deployed, as well as an Octi-dry System to assist with drying highly saturated areas. Furniture, clothing, and other personal property was also affected, but JTR took care of the situation, drying what they could, disposing of unsalvageable material, and returning the home to it’s pre-loss condition. 

Residential fire sprinklers are a plus: responding to fire faster, decreasing the risk to occupants and to firefighters, and minimizing fire damage. But in the event of a fire, and even sometimes in the event of a malfunction, there is also the possibility of fire sprinkler water damage. If you find yourself in need of fire damage restoration or fire sprinkler water damage restoration, contact the best, contact Joe Taylor Restoration.