The sprinklers react immediately to prevent quickly developing fire from trapping residents. Spaced throughout a building, fire sprinklers are connected to piping which contains water under pressure. Only the sprinklers nearest the fire sense the heat and when the fusible element melts or the glass bulb breaks, water is released to extinguish the fire. They are on guard 24 hours a day. The incidence of dormitory fires and the effectiveness and reliability of automatic fire sprinklers point to the necessity for these devices in college dormitories.
Sprinklers are the most reliable active fire protection system known.
The overwhelming statistics of fires in college dorms, demonstrate the preventable loss of life that is occurring. In the United States, there was an average of 1,437 dormitory fires per year from 1990 to 1994. An average of one person was killed each year, and an average of 54 people were injured. The installation of automatic fire sprinklers in dorms would greatly reduce the amount of property damage, injuries, and deaths that are occurring on college campuses across the country. After becoming familiar with the statistics on the incidence of fires in college residences and the effectiveness of fire sprinklers, I will consider the presence of fire sprinklers in making my dorm selection.