美佛罗里达拟将强制安装自动灭火系统写入法律

【慧聪消防网】据Fire Engineering.com3月8日报道，美国佛罗里达州众议院试图拒绝通过一项草拟的提案——将在新建住房内安装消防喷头写进法律。这项提议由商业和家庭安全研究所（the Institute for Business & Home Safety简称IBHS）提出。

“安装消防喷头是通过一种经过验证的，具有成本效益的方法来保护生命和财产。”IBHS总裁兼首席执行官Julie Rochman说，“如果不强制要求在新建建筑里安装消防喷头，将会导致佛罗里达州的很多家庭和消防员在将来面临潜在危险，是一个非常错误的决定。

如果该提案成功通过正在审议的立法，那么，佛罗里达州众议院将禁止佛罗里达州建筑委员会继续采用2009年通过的国际住宅法案（IRC），IRC中要求在排屋和一两户住宅安装自动喷水。佛罗里达州建筑委员会目前正在接受审议建议，将在今年晚些时候修订2009年版的国际住宅法案，2009年版的国际住宅法案将作为2010年版佛罗里达州住宅法的基础文件。

虽然消防喷头对生命安全的保护效果是无可争议的，但全面安装消防喷头依然有一些阻碍因素。一些人担心成本和维修的问题，而且消防喷头发生故障或者误喷将会对财产造成损失。

“但重要的是，人们必须明白，现在的家庭自动喷水灭火系统早已不是以前那种落后的系统了。可能您还记得小时候在学校或者其他一些场合，一个消防喷头将整幢大楼泡湿的场景，但现在的家庭自动喷水灭火系统已经有重大的技术进步，”Rochman说，“现在的住宅火灾自动洒水装置设计反应比标准商业系统消防快得多。”

现有的家庭自动喷水灭火系统主要有以下几个特点：

1、每个消防喷头有一个温度敏感元件，当温度达到135摄氏度至165摄氏度时，可激活该消防喷水喷水，但不会启动整个系统。

2、消防喷头只经营响应大火的热量，对烟雾或气体不敏感。

3、由于消防喷头单独经营，在被激活启动后通过喷水来灭火。喷头主要是用来控制火势，延长居民逃生时间，而且往往有助于减少损害和降低财产损失的程度。

4、当火灾开始，最接近火灾的消防喷头被激活开始喷水，阻止火势蔓延。在某些情况下，消防喷头甚至能在消防员到达之前灭火。消防喷头在火灾初期阻止火势，防止小火变成火灾，当消防部门到达现场时，可能不需要使用高压水流来灭火。这样就能进一步降低或避免财产损失。

独立的自动喷水灭火系统使用专用供水单向阀。虽然家庭自动喷水灭火系统每年可能需要一些专业的保养，但其实日常维护工作可以由房主来完成。

“当谈到家庭自动喷水灭火系统可以大幅提高对家庭和消防队员的生命安全保护时，安装的边际成本似乎是值得的。研究现状，我们对多年前的法规做出讨论修订，全国的消防喷头使用现状证明，增加对新建建筑的自动灭火系统安装率是非常有必要的。”Rochman说。。（编译/慧聪消防网羽卒）

此消息系编译自国外媒体，慧聪消防网登载此文出于传递更多信息之目的，并不意味着赞同其观点或证实其描述。文章内容仅供参考。

原文：

IBHS: Dropping FL Residential Fire Sprinkler Requirement a Mistake

A Florida House committee’s attempt to snuff out a proposed rule requiring fire sprinklers in many newly constructed homes endangers residents and firefighters,according to the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).

“Fire sprinklers are a proven,cost-effective way to protect life and property,” said Julie Rochman,IBHS president & CEO. “Eliminating the building code requirement to install fire sprinklers in new homes is a serious and potentially very harmful decision that could place the lives of many Florida families and firefighters in grave danger.”

If successful,legislation under consideration in the Florida House would prohibit the Florida Building Commission from adopting national code provisions contained in the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) that require installation of automatic sprinklers in townhomes and one- and two-family dwellings. The Florida Building Commission is currently accepting proposed changes to the 2009 IRC for consideration later this year. The 2009 IRC serves as the base document for the 2010 edition of the Florida Residential Code.

While the life safety benefits of sprinklers are undisputed as the result of several high quality studies,some con­cerns continue to be raised about cost,maintenance,and poten­tial losses to property caused by failures or inadvertent activa­tion of sprinklers.

“It is important that people understand that today’s home sprinkler systems are not what you may remember from childhood at school,where someone could set off one sprinkler head and soak the whole building,” Rochman stated. “There have been significant technological advancements. Today’s automatic residential fire sprinklers are designed to react to a fire much faster than standard commercial systems.”

Among the key fea­tures of today’s sprinklers are:

1、Each fire sprinkler head has a temperature-sensitive element that causes it (rather than the entire system) to activate when temperatures reach 135 degrees to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

2、Sprinklers only operate in response to the heat of fire; they do not respond to smoke or vapors.

3、Because sprinklers operate individually,only the sprinkler(s) over the fire will activate. While they are primarily intended to control the fire long enough to allow occupants to escape,they often help reduce the extent of damage and property loss.

4、When a fire starts,the heat from the fire activates the sprin­kler closest to the fire,limiting fire growth. In some instanc­es,sprinklers will actually put out the fire before firefighters arrive. By limiting or stopping fire growth,further property damage,including that caused by streams of high-pressure water from fire department hoses,also is prevented.

Stand-alone sprinkler systems use a dedicated water supply held in place by check valves. While they may require some type of annual maintenance by a professional if they incorporate a testable backflow device,routine maintenance can be done by the homeowner.

“When it comes to residential sprinklers,the marginal costs of installation seem well worth the tremendous benefits that can be achieved by greatly increasing life safety for families and firefighter. These provisions were extensively debated over many years,and research and real world usage in homes across the country prove that the decision to add sprinklers to the residential code was a good one. It would be a shame to see Florida move away from safer homes,” Rochman concluded.