Live fire demonstration to show Annapolis property owners importance of sprinklers

A live demonstration showing two staged rooms catch fire, one without sprinklers and one with, will take place at noon on Wednesday at City Dock to encourage Annapolis businesses and property owners to retrofit their buildings with sprinklers.

Additional funding for the city’s 2022 sprinkler fund was put in the most recent city budget, and provides low-interest 1% per year loans to help building owners pay for fire sprinkler systems.

The City of Annapolis, the Annapolis Fire Department, and National Fire Sprinkler Association partnered to bring the demonstration to the parking lot closest to Susan Campbell Park. The live fire demonstration will take place inside an NFSA trailer outfitted with two identically furnished rooms.

On one one side of the trailer, a fire is set and in about 35 seconds (the time it would take sprinklers to turn on), the blaze is extinguished by fire sprinklers.

On the other side of the trailer, the blaze is put out by Annapolis firefighters within the window of a typical Annapolis response time, about four minutes.

There are two components to a fire call response time. The first is the “turnout time,” how long it takes firefighters to depart the station after receiving a call. When response time is calculated, it is turnout time plus travel time.

Representatives from CNR Insurance will be on hand to discuss financial incentives insurance companies offer for buildings with fire sprinklers.