DETECTION AND ALERTING DEVICES
Even
though it was quite awhile ago, Marquette, Michigan firefighter, Bill Dupras,
still vividly recalled the Valley Oak Farm fire in 1981. "When
we arrived, we could see the fire was going to be a hard fire to put out...due
to the heavy fire load inside with all the stored hay. When the fire
was finally put out, the barn was mostly ashes with all the livestock underneath
them. To me it was a sad fire largely because the horses never had
a chance from the beginning."
When a fire
starts, minutes are critical. You want to be alerted immediately and you
most definitely want the fire department dispatched as soon as possible. Smoke
detectors installed in homes have been credited with saving many lives by warning
residents of danger and allowing them time to escape. Unfortunately, residential
and commercial type smoke detectors do not work well in barns because dust soon
clogs the mechanism, rendering it inoperable unless it is cleaned frequently.
In our barn,
the previous owner had mounted a residential type smoke detector on a ceiling joist. The
overhanging base of the detector on the side of the joist provided the base for
a barn swallow nest. We knew the detector had probably become inoperative
within a couple of days after installation years earlier, but we didn’t take it
down because we had fun watching the barn swallows swoop in and out of the barn.
There was a slight problem, though. The detector and its nest were in the
center of the aisle way and halfway down the length of the barn, so no cross-ties
could be used in that location due to the peril of being “dropped” upon. It
was a minor inconvenience, though, considering how bug-free the swallows kept the
barn.
Do not despair,
however, if you really feel smoke detectors in your barn will provide you with
peace of mind. Optical smoke detectors are available that are designed to
operate in dusty areas. These detectors must be professionally installed
since the location of detectors within the building is specifically designed for
the structure.
Heat detectors can be used in conjunction with smoke detectors, and their
placement in your barn should also be determined by a certified installer. Heat
detectors are effective only in closed spaces such as your tack room, feed
room, or other utility rooms. If a heat detector is triggered in open
areas, such as the stalls, it is usually too late.
There are two types of heat detectors: rate of rise and fixed temperature. The
rate of rise detector alarm is activated when the air surrounding the detector
rises several degrees in a very short period of time, usually ten degrees
Fahrenheit within sixty seconds. Fixed temperature heat detectors are
designed to activate at a preset temperature which can range from 135°F.
to 190°F. The setting will be determined depending upon the location
of the heat detector.
Costs may reach several thousand dollars for
some types of detection systems, but if you can afford the expense, professionally-installed
smoke and heat detectors are definitely a worthwhile investment. But,
I cannot stress enough the importance of having any detection or alerting system
installed by a professional. In fact, this is a very good time to introduce
you to Macy Hallock, who was a state certified fire alarm installer and life
safety professional during the time (1977-2002) he founded and operated FM Systems. He
is now a consultant to a major alarm central station monitoring company and
continues to attend many alarm industry seminars and events, so he is quite
up-to-date on the latest technology. A number of years ago, Macy replied
to a Google Group question regarding fire detection systems in horse barns. His
reply: “If you wish to protect the lives of the building’s occupants (as opposed
to the structure itself), you will have to design to National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) standards, just like a hospital or other similar “life safety”
application. Normally you would use smoke detectors, installed at spacing
determined by square footage, with height of the ceiling (higher ceilings de-rate
smoke detection) and ventilation taken into consideration. This application
presents some other unique problems, though.