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Australia’s first firefighter sprinkler training facility for standalone housing goes live
Industry and fire services have developed a facility to show firefighters and practitioners the efficacy and importance of residential sprinklers.
PHOTO: 123RF
PAUL WATERHOUSE
FPA Australia
Following the 2012 Bankstown apartment fire, the introduction of Technical Specifications FPAA101D and FPAA101H into the National Construction Code (NCC) created new rules and incentives for sprinklers to be installed in residential buildings.
The NCC requires these features in Class 2 and Class 3 shared residential buildings above four storeys and under 25 metres, leaving it optional for other types of residential premises.
However, a lack of awareness about residential sprinklers, how they operate under the new NCC provisions, and why these changes are important, is acting as a disincentive for their installation, particularly for the FPAA101D model.
This model, which draws its water supply from drinking water and is connected to the water used to flush the building’s toilets, is the most cost-effective option for sprinklers in a home.
To increase operational familiarity with the new sprinkler specifications, the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Australia (HFSCA) proposed a fire brigade training centre in each jurisdiction install and use a FPAA101D sprinkler system for the purposes of firefighter, industry and community education and training.
The Technical Specifications
FPAA101D and FPAA101H were developed following the coroner’s inquiry into the 2012 Bankstown fire.
That inquiry recommended cost-effective sprinkler systems be created to allow for the installation of fire suppression more affordably in shared residential buildings, and that these should be incorporated into the NCC as a deemed-to-satisfy requirement.
The Specifications were developed by Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), CSIRO, AFAC and FPA Australia, following extensive testing on a purpose-built test rig that reflected the layout of the Bankstown unit where the fire broke out.
These tests showed that flashover in an unsprinklered room will occur within three minutes and 40 seconds, at which time the compartment is fully involved in fire and conditions are untenable for human life.
In contrast, the sprinklered room kept the fire under control for more than 14 minutes, giving the brigade plenty of time to attend the site and extinguish the flames.
Clearly, the presence of a fire suppression system is an important factor for the safety of its residents and responding firefighters, and for the protection of the property.
A goal to go further
HFSCA is a partnership between AFAC and FPA Australia that seeks to be the leading national resource for independent, non-commercial information about home fire sprinklers.
Its work on the Technical Specifications was supported by funding from the International Fire Suppression Alliance, and HFSCA has firmly set itself a goal to make sprinklered residential buildings and homes the rule rather than the exception.
The need for a demonstration
With training on home sprinkler systems part of HFSCA’s strategy, the Coalition approached FRNSW to identify whether a demonstration system could be installed within the Class 1a standalone residential training prop to prove its effectiveness.
FRNSW agreed with this request and a FPAA101D system was installed in a standalone house at its Emergency Services Academy in Orchard Hills, NSW.
This is an Australian first and
has created a facility that can show firefighters and other stakeholders what the system looks like, how it will work, what needs to be done for maintenance, how effective it will be in suppressing fires and how to re-establish the system after its activation.
So why do this?
Sprinklers are the next big development in fire safety in residential premises. They build upon the groundwork laid by smoke alarms, recognising that alerting occupants there is a fire in their house is not the same as fighting it.
Residential sprinkler systems, like their commercial counterparts, will extend the time occupants have to escape safely and will help to keep a fire under control until fire crews can come and put it out.
HFSCA Chairman Mark Whybro said that the ultimate goal is to promote community safety: “We know the potential of sprinklers to save lives, but there’s a perception that they are too expensive.
“This facility will show firefighters and other stakeholders how simple these home sprinkler systems are, so that they’ll become ambassadors for them, much as they have done with working smoke alarms,” he said.
FRNSW Assistant Commissioner for Community Safety Trent Curtin said the public policy lessons learnt from smoke detectors are helping to guide the strategy.
“There was a lot of community resistance initially to smoke alarms when they were first introduced, but you wouldn’t even dream about not having detectors in a house today.
“Sprinklers save lives, and the inclusion of sprinkler systems in residential buildings across Australia will significantly reduce the 60-plus preventable deaths per year resulting from house fires.
“FRNSW research has shown that firefighters are seen by the community as trustworthy, credible, reliable voices on fire safety, so they are the ideal ambassadors to encourage the use of these systems,” Mr Curtin said.
The key, according to Leigh Gesthuizen, FPA Australia’s National Manager, Technical, is costeffectiveness: “Nobody will accept an additional $50,000 bill to install residential sprinklers.
“However, incentives in building regulations, and the ability to use domestic water supplies to flush out the system when you flush your toilet or use a tap, allowing ongoing monitoring of the system, will mean any additional cost to construction is minimal.”
He said the biggest hurdle was education: “We know these systems work, but the people who will need to design, install and certify them need the confidence to do so, with better training on how to do it and why.
“We need to shift the housing industry to a point where installing a residential sprinkler is as simple and routine as installing a sewerage system,” he argued.
Mr Whybro confirmed that HFSCA is co-funding the design, installation and development of this training installation and supporting training materials with FRNSW, and has the same offer open to all other Australian fire agencies.
“Our goal is to have one of these training props in each state and territory, and we’re in discussion with other brigades to set them up.
“Ultimately, we want our frontline firefighters to be respected and passionate advocates of residential sprinkler systems—because these sprinklers will save lives,” he said.
