> From: Candace Hagood <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: December 7, 2012 10:13:44 AM EST
> Subject: Gas fire supression
> 
> I would like to get some feedback on fire surpession systems for 
> archives/record centers.  Has anyone actually had a fire and used the 
> gas surpression?  Did the water system activate as well?  I am working 
> on improving our current disaster recovery plan and would like 
> some "real-life" input above and beyond what the pretty brochures 
> say. 


Candace, I think Jim covered the waterfront pretty well. I would not recommend using a gas suppression system in a large area like an archive, as the concentration level must be very precise for it to work effectively. That means all the doors to the area would be closed and sealed. The gas system is not activated until you have evacuated the area in which the gas will drop in most situations. Typically a time delay of 15 to 30 seconds.

If you use the agent on a vault, you should provide an annunciator panel to tell you if the agent has dropped or is still in limbo due to only one smoke/ionization detector being activated. That will prevent you from opening the vault door just as the agent is dropping.

Some fire marshals require pre-action water sprinklers even though you have a gas fire suppression system in place.  Or they may accept a back up suppression system should the initial event re-flash.

I would not use FM-200 if you go gas as that system is already being banned in Europe.  But you can use NOVEC by 3M or Ecaro 25 by many others.

The design of your center should involve a fire protection engineer, not just a gas suppression salesman as you will have many issues to resolve.

Regular business records can be stored under water sprinkler systems but historical records, records of high intrinsic value and other records and artifacts that would significantly lose their value if they were to be soaked with dirty water should be stored in a separate room or vault with clean agent. The one issue that most people do not consider is the filthy natures of the water that comes out of oil soaked, rusty pipes. Only in movies is the water that comes out something that looks crystal clear.  Watch them drain your system sometime during an inspection and you will see what I mean.

In vaulted environments you seldom would see a re-ingnition as the systems react so quickly the fire has little chance to develop as it drops with smoke or even flammable gases where sprinklers require a large amount of heat to be set off so the fire develops for quite some time before the sprinkler heads even activate.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
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