Firefighters get word out about home sprinkler systems

Michael Rugh sees plenty of misinformation and misunderstanding when it comes the topic of home fire sprinklers.

And he hopes that a new push for education could be what is needed to get the state to finally pass legislation requiring sprinklers in new homes.

Rugh, the assistant fire chief for Union Fire Company in Carlisle and the fire marshal for the state police, announced Wednesday that the Carlisle Volunteer Firefighters received a $1,000 stipend to educate the public on home sprinkler systems via public service announcements.

Those PSAs will run in various media outlets, as well as one specifically targeted area movie theaters.

The national nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition is funding these stipends to firefighting organizations across the country and one big reason why its doing it is to dispel myths perpetrated in Hollywood movies about sprinklers.

According to Rugh, unlike what viewers see on television and in movies, a fire in one room will not trigger the sprinkler system in every part of the house or business and only the high temperature of a fire not cigar smoke or burnt toast will set off the system.

All theyre doing is starting to educate the public, Rugh said of PSAs.

Some of the advertisements include a 30-second comical spoof showing a burglar attempting to set off the sprinkler system from another room during a dance party, and succeeding in setting off only the sprinkler above him.

PSA

For Rugh, a telling PSA compares the effects of a fire at a home without a sprinkler system and a home with a sprinkler system. The former has a charred room and the other only had fire damage to the curtains before the sprinkler system doused the fire.

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Firefighters get word out about home sprinkler systems