Details Count #11: Fire Detection Systems, Presented by MDBarnmaster

This weekly series talks about the details that matter when building or renovating a barn or equestrian facility. It’s a known fact that horses know a million ways to hurt themselves, and our best defense is to share our knowledge on how to keep our friends safe. Our colleague, noted equine facilities designer Holly Matt of Pegasus Design Group, has generously agreed to write this weekly column. Have tips you’d like to share? Send them to [email protected].

In mid-December, we started a two-part post that to reduce fire risk, you need A) building materials that reduce fire risk and B) if fire happens anyway, adequate response time via early smoke detection and fire alarm systems. Last month, we covered part A, illustrating the four primary building methods and their pros and cons (pole, fire-resistant composite modular, block, and timber).

Today, for either new or existing barns, we’re covering part B, early smoke detection and fire alarm systems. We’re still extremely in favor of stacking the deck in your favor by building with fire-resistant materials, but if you’ve already got a barn, it’s surprisingly, fantastically, streak-nekkid-at-Bromont happy-dance affordable to add a Fire Detection System. SO DO IT. Now.

NFPA 150 (a document produced by the National Fire Protection Association) states there is not a requirement for smoke detection or sprinklers in a stable. However, some counties require one or both.  As NFPA further states (to paraphrase) “as horses are captive, sedentary beings and not prone to self-preservation when domesticated in a barn setting, it’s your responsibility to get them out of harm’s way.” We know a few OTTBs that may object to being called “sedentary” but it’s true that horses are generally not skilled in self-preservation. And in terms of responsibility, that’s especially true if you’re housing client’s horses

There are two parts to a complete fire system to consider: smoke (warning), and sprinkler (suppression).

Sprinkler System Facts

  • A sprinkler system is designed to save the structure, not the animals. And they are very expensive to install and maintain (e.g. freezing etc.)
  • A typical stable has an average height of around 20-25’. Sprinkler systems are mounted at the ceiling.
  • A sprinkler system is not active, it passively waits for heat to rise to the sprinkler head, where (usually) a mercury core or a thermostat activates when the heat reaches 160°F. Note: the 160° heat MUST be at the sprinkler head or nothing will happen.
  • A sprinkler head activation is unique to the local sprinkler head only. The movies depict all heads activating at the same time and hosing everything down. If only Hollywood stories were true! Heat must be at each sprinkler head in order for all of them to activate.
  • By the time the facility is 160° twenty feet in the air, most of the facility and animals inside are gone. Animals do not typically burn to death, they die of smoke inhalation.

These facts show that in order to protect the animals in the structure, some form of early smoke detector warning must take place.

Early Warning Aspiration Smoke Detection System Facts

  • The brand name VESDA (Xtralis) has become a generic name for most air sampling applications. VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus) is a laser-based smoke detector.
  • Actively “sniffs” the air for smoke before it becomes a fire, and provides two alert modes before actively reporting a fire condition. (This allows the individuals running the stable to investigate before rolling fire trucks and alarming the animals. In the early stages of smoke, there is no flaming fire, and the Particles of Combustion that the early warning aspiration detector is sensing are not even visible to the human eye.)
  • Can connect to a fire control panel that is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; or in areas where it’s not a code requirement, can stand alone and activate a cellular dialer to call up to five different cell phones, including a 24 hour monitoring facility (average cost is between 18-25 dollars a month).
  • Can help save insurance dollars.
  • Contains a built-in filter to block dust and dirt and prevent false alarms.
  • Has the detector mounted at 5’ AFF where it can be serviced. The sampling pipe that pulls the smoke from the space into the detector is mounted in the ceiling, and the test point for annual inspections is mounted at a height that is easily accessible for testing.
  • Will give everyone peace of mind, and professionals a business benefit as they can tell clients there’s a VESDA system protecting their horses.

Typically, a single detector can protect up to 25 horses (we are currently doing this at STAR – Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding – stables outside of Knoxville).

And drum roll please… one of these Early Warning Aspiration Smoke Detection System detectors can protect a stable – the building, horses, tack – for less than the cost of just one of the high end saddles it saves. They’re not foolproof, and it’s always smart to build with fire-resistant materials, but for any barn, one of these “sniffer” units that detects particles 24/7 and long before you see or smell them, is priceless.

Image © Xtralis, find out more at xtralis.com, or email [email protected] or holly@pegasusdesigngroup for equestrian-specialty applications.

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