Cheyenne Firefighters Demonstrate Sprinkler System

Cheyenne Fire & Rescue demonstrated how an installed home sprinkler system can save lives during a "side-by-side" burn at Frontier Park. The demonstration was paid for through a $1,000 grant from the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition.

Cheyenne firefighters constructed nearly two identical living rooms. One had a sprinkler system installed and one did. When the room without the sprinkler was set on fire, it reached complete flash over in one minute and 27 seconds. At that point everything in the room was on fire, and the temperature in the room would be too high for firefighters to enter. When the room with the sprinkler was set on fire, the sprinkler system activated in 52 seconds and put out the fire.

Jon Narva, Prevention Chief for Cheyenne Fire and Rescue, says home fires today burn faster and kill quicker because the contents of modern homes can burn faster and more intensely, which adds to the need for fire sprinklers.

According o the National Fire Protection Association's latest u.s. data, 92 percent of all civilian structure fire deaths resulted from home structure fires.  Narva says Cheyenne Fire & Rescue will repeat the demonstration on Super Day in Lions Park.