I have received many comments about dry systems we do use them here, however they are installed in areas susceptible to freezing like unheated attics and outdoor applications. They are not installed for general indoor protection as they have a much higher cost more complexity for testing and maintenance and require much more supervision. This does not need a dry system a wet system is completely normal for this application. The soffit space is supposed to be insulated and is indicated as such on the as-builts just never was actually installed.
Almost my whole building is a dry system, I have 2 risers and the Dry system covers 39,000sqft almost the whole building. I love it. The dry system is better for the environment and my wallet as we are able to use less heat. My fave is the sound of the air evacuating the system, it is cool
@@brianthetowerguy979 that's great if it's in an attic or outdoor space. Simply doesn't make sense for the interior of the building where it needs to be heated and insulated anyways. Not to mention the problem they can cause during prolonged power outages.
@@nics-systems-electric As was said before about the dry system but the other option since that area does not seem to have ventilation there maybe some heat tape on the pipes in the area would be a good idea. As you also pointed out there was supposed to be insulation there but that can only work down to a certain temperature. Thankfully the response was quick to stop the damage.
@@nics-systems-electric Time to raise the bullshit flag on that monitoring company. Should be no reason for that, but yet somehow it happened in a real f**king emergency in this school, not a fire emergency but a water emergency.
I always used to see problems like this (reported as the wrong signal type to monitor, reporting the wrong zone or non-existent zones, etc.) and it was really bad with the addressable systems early on. Graphic annunciators should be a code requirement these days. My 1980 Michigan high school had a graphic annunciator (totally analog though with a shape of the building and colored incandescent lights at specific locations) and then there were sub-annunciators that were located in each zone (just a row of lights up near the ceiling) that drilled down the initiating device further, really advanced for 1978 when it was designed (also had an advanced smoke control system). It worked great for 20 years until they frankensteined it to a digital panel and botched it (graphic annunciator is a dead zombie now). At 2am over a holiday weekend, the fire dept got a signal for a pull station. Entered the school, checked the pull station and it was fine, then left. It was actually triggered by a water flow on the other side of the building due to a frozen pipe. Water ran for 2 days straight. They found nothing was programmed or working right and the next time we had a drill, they had to send us home because they couldn't shut off the horns. Then we had an arson fire (and attempted bombing) just before graduation in 2002. That building was never right afterwards so I hope yours is dried out and the problems are fixed.
Have you seen the video he did on the smoke exhaust fans for that main area? There’s FOUR OF THEM, and they are ENORMOUS!!! They can also kill you in seconds if you get sucked into them, because yes, they are that powerful!
No doubt about it, that early January cold snap was brutal. -10 is definitely not what our island is used to; so many burst pipes across town and even one of the ferries. The School District is sure lucky to have your expertise and experience in this case which no doubt helped prevent a far worse outcome. Excellent work Nic.
Oh and btw, great video. You did an awesome job as cameraman, using text to explain what is going on, and overall did a 10/10 job for showing us what happened that day. I would hire you as my employee any day.
That sucks man. We had temps reach -23f / -30c and didn't go above 0f / -18c for 3 days and pipes were bursting all over town in mid January. Grateful we didn't have any problems here.
Wish I found this video earlier. At a previous job a car clipped a sprinkler pipe in a parking garage, setting off flow alarms and triggering a general fire alarm. People were evacuated and were subsequently confused as to why the level of response was needed. Fun times
This happened today at the other high school across town from mine during the school day. They had to stand outside for an hour, and then we're eventually allowed to go back in or leave, but if their class was in the area where the pipe burst or directly below it, they had to go to the school's performing arts center for the rest of the day.
As much as it would have been a better move to drain the system right after shutting the control valve (and me internally screaming as you forgot), what you did is actually not uncommon - from other stories I've heard people only being able to shut the PIVs or just didn't even bother shutting the sprinkler system off over a weekend. Draining a system was banged into my head when I was doing ITM training with risers, and I bet that's not common. Lesson learned, next time it happens you know to drain the pipes. :)
I had a main sprinkler line burst in my condo building a few years back setting off everything the same way in the video, 3 condo units were flooded and lots of the walls\floor and part of the hallway needed to be replaced. Lucky it was on ground floor. This happened during that -20 winter we had
@@nics-systems-electricYou are good at blurring, but someone can just reverse image google search the drone videos of the building and easily find the location
Im south of the border in WA. The Fraser River outflow winds hammered us with -30°c temps. I was Wondering how you guys faired with frigid temps couple weeks back. Our local fire departments were responding to water flow alarms frequently
Congratulations you look like you performed excellent in a high stress situation I don't think I could have done that I am gladden I employed by a grocery store
No they don't however I did once put a system into trouble for a simple time and date change however they had the trouble contact labelled as a panic button on the other end so I walked out of the electrical room with three police cars responding full lights and sirens lol
As for the pressurization fans in the addition not shutting down with the toggle switch when you flipped it. I think you should tell someone that they should program that so it does so along with the make-up air doors if you already didn't.
This is why fire sprinkler pipes should be insulated in addition to the normal insulation. The make-up air system bringing in cold air could freeze more pipes that are normally inside the insulated envelope of the building. If they were insulated there would be less chance of bursting.
I could potentially see that being an issue during a real fire event too. Cold unconditioned makeup air could potentially cause freezing of sprinkler lines in non fire-affected parts of the building over a several-hour fire, reducing the available pressure to the fire. I could see this even more in an environment like a shopping mall with a high atrium ceiling that could act like a chimney with cold air being drawn in through the plenum on the lower floors. Sort of a high-risk/low-probability event.
Sprinkler system was repaired a couple days after and fire alarm system has been re-verified for proper monitoring and is working, ceiling is ripped out and are waiting for an insulation company to re-insulate before drywall can go back up.
This happened at my job back in February, there's a heater in the riser room meant to keep the pipes from freezing, but apparently it stopped working, and one of the valves burst because of it, imagine all of us running around trying to find what caused the alarm to go off cause none of us really knew what "Water flow (air)" meant on the panel XD
reminds me of the time a student got his lanyard stuck on a sprinkler in my HS days. story goes that instead of waiting for the janitor to retrieve it (he spotted the situation and left to grab a ladder), student just tugged on it and away it went. entire floor was flooded in that section of school. i was in the last classroom before that section started.
Ya yes I’ve also have played the game of Broken sprinkler pipes but mine was due to a forklift driver hitting a head And 4/6 of the city’s fire trucks responding to my work
As a Volunteer firefighter ive responded to my fair share of water flow activations. I was just wondering that if the system detected a water flow then why didn't it send it over to the dispatch and only showed it as a trouble?
Interestingly enough, my schools new building/gym a sprinkler head burst and set off the fire alarms in our new gym and the Sandwich Fire Department had to respond. So something very similar happened 😆
You should go into a career in fire science, as you're knowledgeable about fire alarm systems and related substructures. BTW: Is there a "lock out, tag out" system for that electrical panel so those outlets are not reactivated until the electrician can verify them safe? Just curious.
Thanks I couldn't exactly say where I'll be going for a career long-term definitely a lot of interesting options. And yes if that was going to be shut off long-term it would definitely need to be locked out properly it was just shut off temporarily while the water was still coming down.
In my town this year it's happened to several schools. Some had to be closed completely. A hotel also got flooded bad, movie theater and a lot more the fire department was very busy with a ton of of this happening.
My high school I do HVAC for when it first opened, for some reason the people who put the sprinklers in put a damn sprinkler in the freezer 🤦 let’s say the pipe burst inside the freezer, set the fire alarm off and made an awful mess. The fire alarm shut the whole HVAC system down so I had to reset everything including the chiller. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put a sprinkler in the freezer was probably the apprentice
I'm guessing trace heating would be incredibly expensive for sprinkler pipes... our static caravan has it, but only for about 30ft of piping to head into the van.
Heat trace is used often where it's not practical to install a dry system, usually due to the small area that requires it. However then it also needs to be monitored properly to ensure the heat trace is operational.
Few questions: why didnt you guys silence the alarm when you got there? Why would the system report as a trouble to central monitoring vs an alarm? They should of had better insulation for the pipes knowing its an area prone to freezing
You never ever silence an alarm when you don't know what is going on and haven't discovered the emergency and don't yet know if the building needs to be evacuated, you only silence once everything is discovered and controlled. Insulation was supposed to be installed and was indicated on the as-builts but was not actually put in place. Monitoring had the alarm programmed wrong.
@@bfrancioso dry sprinkler systems are used for cold environments like outdoor systems and systems installed in addicts that aren't heated they are not installed inside a heated place
Very unfortunate that the pipes burst, thankfully wet systems aren’t too common here anymore, they’re all air pressurised dry systems with a special valve that releases water once the air in the system is depressurised which would be caused by a popped sprinkler head
That is not the case here at all. Dry systems are installed in non-heated attics and any outdoor space that isn't insulated and heated. Indoor sprinkler systems are wet systems due to the higher cost and higher maintenance of dry systems that require expensive valves, and compressors and much more supervision.
@@johnathanruiz-pineda9610 Different animal... Dry-pipe sprinklers are still water, just held back at the control valve and triggered by loss of air pressure in the lines. You're thinking of the Halon or related systems that flood the space with a gas to smother a fire. Those systems aren't typically used in occupied areas due to their danger to life safety... We only find them around here in data centers and electrical installations, with a 60-second "get your ass out of here" alarm before they're discharged...
Both sprinkler system and fire alarm system were verified in August or July 2023. monitoring company was switched soon after would have thought they would've done their own verification of the work they did but I guess not.
They were pretty concerned that the monitoring company didn't dispatch them. And they are very helpful in the fact they actually helped clean up. Many fire departments wouldn't.
Stupid question- being there wasnt actually a fire and there doesnt appear be any students/staff in the building, why do not silence the alarm? I dont get how anyone can concentrate or focus with that going off. Its loud on camera, I can only imagine how loud it is in person.
Oh my God those fire alarms with the things that go Bing Bing Bing against the metal those are so annoying there’s a wild goat I was in Westhaven tomorrow and it went off because of Carol Karen
Well. I knew this was eas going to be a fun video when i saw it on insta..... The fact that thr monitoring company saw it as a trouble aint alarming in the slightest
POV:I was in the high school at the time and I was near the alarm panel Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAuWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TEACHER HOLD MEEEEEE *wails in terror and fear* Also I’m short and light weight so the teacher would be able to hold me
You don't demolish a building because of a bit of water that would be like totalling a car because of a flat tire. You just need some new drywall and ceiling tiles probably $20,000-$30,000. You wouldn't demolish a $90 million building for that
@@nics-systems-electric That's Why High Schools Should Not Have Fire Sprinklers Because Fire Sprinklers Are A Bad Idea For High Schools Because Sprinkler Heads Can Bust Or Break And Cause $20,000 Or $30,000 Dollars Of Damages And Repairs And Fire Sprinklers Can Get Light Switches Electrical Outlets Ceiling Tiles Walls And Furniture Ruined
@@ryancrooks123 you must be kidding. Not only it wouldn't be legal and wouldn't have insurance. The $20,000 in the rare occurrence that there is improper insulation is nothing compared to the millions that a fire could cause in damage.
I thought I explained that at the end of the video, but it's not a fault of the system in the school the alarm company had their programming labels wrong and had the alarm condition programmed as a trouble
Why did it take the staff so long to call FD? If the alarms go off and it’s a sunday then obviously it’s something suspicious that needs to be investigated
There was confusion with how to handle the situation as they had been told that there was a possibility that dust extraction fire alarm system might cause problems due to the cold temperatures. So they went and looked at it and couldn't find anything wrong they don't have training on how to handle a situation like this where usually the fire alarm system and monitoring takes care of all of the communications needed therefore no human intervention is needed.
@@nics-systems-electric Which is why some schools train their staff for this during the school holidays. I remember one year in elementary, the science teacher burned her cinnamon roll, whole room was smokey and they didn’t even evacuate the school, the alarms was glitching a little bit
I program logic controls and CO (telecom) alarms for a living. Drives me nuts to see a lack of technical intervention here. We have the tech! That system knows enough to know there's not actually an active fire... yet smoke extraction, general siren, and active flows!! Common! Now we have a situation where a "building protection" system is damaging a building. And to think with all those elements active the system called out only a TRBL?? That's a bad programming error 😩
Programming problem on monitoring end, there's not much you can do about pipes freezing they will burst that's not a fault of the system that is a problem with not properly insulated space.
No we don't use them here anymore too many people broke into them and would rip them off buildings. I'm not a first responder either so I would not have access to it
I have received many comments about dry systems we do use them here, however they are installed in areas susceptible to freezing like unheated attics and outdoor applications. They are not installed for general indoor protection as they have a much higher cost more complexity for testing and maintenance and require much more supervision. This does not need a dry system a wet system is completely normal for this application. The soffit space is supposed to be insulated and is indicated as such on the as-builts just never was actually installed.
👍
Almost my whole building is a dry system, I have 2 risers and the Dry system covers 39,000sqft almost the whole building. I love it. The dry system is better for the environment and my wallet as we are able to use less heat. My fave is the sound of the air evacuating the system, it is cool
@@brianthetowerguy979 you're also a known schizophrenic
@@brianthetowerguy979 that's great if it's in an attic or outdoor space. Simply doesn't make sense for the interior of the building where it needs to be heated and insulated anyways. Not to mention the problem they can cause during prolonged power outages.
@@nics-systems-electric As was said before about the dry system but the other option since that area does not seem to have ventilation there maybe some heat tape on the pipes in the area would be a good idea. As you also pointed out there was supposed to be insulation there but that can only work down to a certain temperature. Thankfully the response was quick to stop the damage.
Sync on the alarms is 👌
Definitely worth all the work you guys put into fit it in earlier videos
Oh this happens on Tuesday I need to tell my teacher this when I get to school ❤
Wow, that's a really nice looking school! It must be pretty new with how clear that sprinkler water is
Built in 2015 with a new addition in 2020 so still pretty new
The janitor deserves a raise after this!
All this equipment and nobody was alerted to respond, only curiousity saved this from becoming a swimming pool for the weekend.
The problem comes from the programming on the monitoring station end of things.
That's the importance of errors and omissions in your liability insurance. That's a huge bill right there.
Could of been called in
@@nics-systems-electric Time to raise the bullshit flag on that monitoring company. Should be no reason for that, but yet somehow it happened in a real f**king emergency in this school, not a fire emergency but a water emergency.
@@nics-systems-electrictrue this happen to me before
I always used to see problems like this (reported as the wrong signal type to monitor, reporting the wrong zone or non-existent zones, etc.) and it was really bad with the addressable systems early on. Graphic annunciators should be a code requirement these days. My 1980 Michigan high school had a graphic annunciator (totally analog though with a shape of the building and colored incandescent lights at specific locations) and then there were sub-annunciators that were located in each zone (just a row of lights up near the ceiling) that drilled down the initiating device further, really advanced for 1978 when it was designed (also had an advanced smoke control system). It worked great for 20 years until they frankensteined it to a digital panel and botched it (graphic annunciator is a dead zombie now).
At 2am over a holiday weekend, the fire dept got a signal for a pull station. Entered the school, checked the pull station and it was fine, then left. It was actually triggered by a water flow on the other side of the building due to a frozen pipe. Water ran for 2 days straight. They found nothing was programmed or working right and the next time we had a drill, they had to send us home because they couldn't shut off the horns. Then we had an arson fire (and attempted bombing) just before graduation in 2002. That building was never right afterwards so I hope yours is dried out and the problems are fixed.
wow
2:12 That is a nice ass school tho Wtffff the entrance looks like a damn hotel😭😭
Have you seen the video he did on the smoke exhaust fans for that main area? There’s FOUR OF THEM, and they are ENORMOUS!!! They can also kill you in seconds if you get sucked into them, because yes, they are that powerful!
Great response Nic, you did amazing! Don't ever stop what you're doing cause you're doing it amazingly.
Thank you I appreciate it
No doubt about it, that early January cold snap was brutal. -10 is definitely not what our island is used to; so many burst pipes across town and even one of the ferries. The School District is sure lucky to have your expertise and experience in this case which no doubt helped prevent a far worse outcome. Excellent work Nic.
It sure kept the fire department busy from what I've heard. Apparently beat the last coolest record in 63 or somewhere around there.
"A high school in western Canada has recently installed an indoor swimming pool..."
I am glad you knew what to do agin I will say you preformed well in a high stress situation I don't think I could have done it !!!
Well thank you it's rare to have a positive comment on how you reacted so I appreciate that
I got to say as a long time fan supporter and subscriber that nic has more than come along way in a really good way 😊😊😊
Thank you very much I really do appreciate it
Oh and btw, great video. You did an awesome job as cameraman, using text to explain what is going on, and overall did a 10/10 job for showing us what happened that day. I would hire you as my employee any day.
Thank you I really appreciate that
loving the videos they really are getting more and more pro by the day
Thank you I appreciate it glad you enjoy
My OCD got crazy just like yours with the labels up-side down :)
That sucks man. We had temps reach -23f / -30c and didn't go above 0f / -18c for 3 days and pipes were bursting all over town in mid January. Grateful we didn't have any problems here.
nic this would give me nightmares, I'm custodian/maintance and can tell you this would not be a fun fixing. rip and rebuild time.
Rip it out, dry it out and put it back after being insulated properly
Well done for getting to the problem fast
Well done Nic!
Great video, waiting for part 2 now teased on Instagram
Wish I found this video earlier. At a previous job a car clipped a sprinkler pipe in a parking garage, setting off flow alarms and triggering a general fire alarm. People were evacuated and were subsequently confused as to why the level of response was needed. Fun times
yes thanks Nic I was waiting for this bro
Ah ya, we played this game at work twice this winter... Luckily where we had problems it caused minimal damage and there were floor drains present.
Yeah we've had it all over town multiple schools hotels movie theatres apartments you name it, fire department was kept a very busy
Need to get antifreeze in certain zones of the school or something. Nice work as well. Good job
It just needs to be insulated properly. As built drawing show that space having insulation in the ceiling however in real life there's nothing
That's a really nice water feature
i wish you and you'r school best recovery's
This happened today at the other high school across town from mine during the school day. They had to stand outside for an hour, and then we're eventually allowed to go back in or leave, but if their class was in the area where the pipe burst or directly below it, they had to go to the school's performing arts center for the rest of the day.
In the words of Phil swift-“Now THATS a LOTTA DAMAGE”
Yep
Man y’all have a nice school. Wish the schools I went to as kid here in Houston looked nice like that. They looked like a run down prison.
As much as it would have been a better move to drain the system right after shutting the control valve (and me internally screaming as you forgot), what you did is actually not uncommon - from other stories I've heard people only being able to shut the PIVs or just didn't even bother shutting the sprinkler system off over a weekend. Draining a system was banged into my head when I was doing ITM training with risers, and I bet that's not common.
Lesson learned, next time it happens you know to drain the pipes. :)
Another great video
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed
I had a main sprinkler line burst in my condo building a few years back setting off everything the same way in the video, 3 condo units were flooded and lots of the walls\floor and part of the hallway needed to be replaced. Lucky it was on ground floor. This happened during that -20 winter we had
You are very good with the blurring bet that takes a long tine
Yes, it takes a very long time
@@nics-systems-electricYou are good at blurring, but someone can just reverse image google search the drone videos of the building and easily find the location
The sound of the fire alarm is my favorite fire alarm sound. I love it. I believe the sound of the fire alarm is the greatest alarm sound ever ❤️👍😎💯😀😍
Mechanical horns do it better.
that sound is the sound of your ears breaking
Ha, funny thing, this exact same thing happened at my high school. Different one, but still a funny coincidence.
Im south of the border in WA. The Fraser River outflow winds hammered us with -30°c temps. I was Wondering how you guys faired with frigid temps couple weeks back. Our local fire departments were responding to water flow alarms frequently
Same here lots of schools had blown up pipes, as well as some movie theaters, hotels, malls, you name it
We had the same thing in happen Central Washington. We had a sprinkler pipe burst a couple weeks ago after it was -22 C.
Congratulations you look like you performed excellent in a high stress situation I don't think I could have done that I am gladden I employed by a grocery store
It would be an understatement to say that anyone who has a mortal phobia of the fire alarm must not get a job in firefighting...
Did one of the pipes blow up or something cause if you did why did it turn on the water module that sprays water everywhere
Rip ears. those alarms are probably 90 db or louder.
Especially the spectra alert advances are quite loud
Eh it's not bad you get used to it. In the smaller rooms many are on medium or low volume
@@nics-systems-electric ah gotcha
I see your point
Getting to school in a timely manner is key
For sure and the fire department also needs to be receiving the alarm
Can you film a tutorial on how to convert BG-12LX to BG-12L
Does the police department roll for alarm activations in your area?
No they don't however I did once put a system into trouble for a simple time and date change however they had the trouble contact labelled as a panic button on the other end so I walked out of the electrical room with three police cars responding full lights and sirens lol
Wow, i hope they are fixing it..
As for the pressurization fans in the addition not shutting down with the toggle switch when you flipped it. I think you should tell someone that they should program that so it does so along with the make-up air doors if you already didn't.
I think I mentioned it I don't think anyone will deal with it though
This is why fire sprinkler pipes should be insulated in addition to the normal insulation. The make-up air system bringing in cold air could freeze more pipes that are normally inside the insulated envelope of the building. If they were insulated there would be less chance of bursting.
The ceiling they are in was supposed to be insulated that is why that room was getting down to 8°C so it would be much colder above the ceiling
I could potentially see that being an issue during a real fire event too. Cold unconditioned makeup air could potentially cause freezing of sprinkler lines in non fire-affected parts of the building over a several-hour fire, reducing the available pressure to the fire. I could see this even more in an environment like a shopping mall with a high atrium ceiling that could act like a chimney with cold air being drawn in through the plenum on the lower floors. Sort of a high-risk/low-probability event.
Any updates on the repairs or the test where you pulled the alarm to see what the monitoring company did?
Sprinkler system was repaired a couple days after and fire alarm system has been re-verified for proper monitoring and is working, ceiling is ripped out and are waiting for an insulation company to re-insulate before drywall can go back up.
This happened at my job back in February, there's a heater in the riser room meant to keep the pipes from freezing, but apparently it stopped working, and one of the valves burst because of it, imagine all of us running around trying to find what caused the alarm to go off cause none of us really knew what "Water flow (air)" meant on the panel XD
reminds me of the time a student got his lanyard stuck on a sprinkler in my HS days. story goes that instead of waiting for the janitor to retrieve it (he spotted the situation and left to grab a ladder), student just tugged on it and away it went. entire floor was flooded in that section of school. i was in the last classroom before that section started.
Haha that's awesome, not to clean up but the things kids do lol
Are the relief fans on? what is that fan noise when you get to the Atrium at 2:11?
That's what I said in the video I did show it as well
Did you finally get the alarms synced?
Yeah months ago I had videos showing how it was done
Ya yes I’ve also have played the game of Broken sprinkler pipes but mine was due to a forklift driver hitting a head
And 4/6 of the city’s fire trucks responding to my work
Wow the school has a new pool!
As a Volunteer firefighter ive responded to my fair share of water flow activations. I was just wondering that if the system detected a water flow then why didn't it send it over to the dispatch and only showed it as a trouble?
Monitoring company had the alarm programmed wrong as a trouble
So the pipe has turn the pipes and electric off
Rest in peace wallet for possible water damage
the government will likely pay for damages. this is a public school. if not, the school board, and they have the funds
@@LiquidSnakeSSJ4 that is true but yikes that gotta be a lot of damage
@@LiquidSnakeSSJ4 What about the insurance as well ?
Nic are you going to have an over on the other sprinkler that went off that went off outside
Yes you'll have to wait
@@nics-systems-electric k
Interestingly enough, my schools new building/gym a sprinkler head burst and set off the fire alarms in our new gym and the Sandwich Fire Department had to respond. So something very similar happened 😆
You should go into a career in fire science, as you're knowledgeable about fire alarm systems and related substructures. BTW: Is there a "lock out, tag out" system for that electrical panel so those outlets are not reactivated until the electrician can verify them safe? Just curious.
Thanks I couldn't exactly say where I'll be going for a career long-term definitely a lot of interesting options. And yes if that was going to be shut off long-term it would definitely need to be locked out properly it was just shut off temporarily while the water was still coming down.
How did that happen
had anything else happend to this secondary school? and is there gonna be a video about that elementry or middle school?
Sprinklers went off in another area while under construction aside from student problems nothing major
@@nics-systems-electric where was the other flow?
Same thing to my sister school where she a 4k aid there a sprinkler that burst because of the cold snap
In my town this year it's happened to several schools. Some had to be closed completely. A hotel also got flooded bad, movie theater and a lot more the fire department was very busy with a ton of of this happening.
My high school I do HVAC for when it first opened, for some reason the people who put the sprinklers in put a damn sprinkler in the freezer 🤦 let’s say the pipe burst inside the freezer, set the fire alarm off and made an awful mess. The fire alarm shut the whole HVAC system down so I had to reset everything including the chiller. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put a sprinkler in the freezer was probably the apprentice
I'm guessing trace heating would be incredibly expensive for sprinkler pipes... our static caravan has it, but only for about 30ft of piping to head into the van.
Heat trace is used often where it's not practical to install a dry system, usually due to the small area that requires it. However then it also needs to be monitored properly to ensure the heat trace is operational.
Nick are you gonna start sprinkler system in your house?
nope
Few questions: why didnt you guys silence the alarm when you got there? Why would the system report as a trouble to central monitoring vs an alarm? They should of had better insulation for the pipes knowing its an area prone to freezing
You never ever silence an alarm when you don't know what is going on and haven't discovered the emergency and don't yet know if the building needs to be evacuated, you only silence once everything is discovered and controlled. Insulation was supposed to be installed and was indicated on the as-builts but was not actually put in place. Monitoring had the alarm programmed wrong.
@@nics-systems-electric what about a dry pipe system to avoid this in the first place?
@@nics-systems-electric It seems like Pellis doesn't have the best track record.
@@bfrancioso dry sprinkler systems are used for cold environments like outdoor systems and systems installed in addicts that aren't heated they are not installed inside a heated place
Can bath with these water?
Very unfortunate that the pipes burst, thankfully wet systems aren’t too common here anymore, they’re all air pressurised dry systems with a special valve that releases water once the air in the system is depressurised which would be caused by a popped sprinkler head
That is not the case here at all. Dry systems are installed in non-heated attics and any outdoor space that isn't insulated and heated. Indoor sprinkler systems are wet systems due to the higher cost and higher maintenance of dry systems that require expensive valves, and compressors and much more supervision.
Additionally I’m sure you wouldn’t want an individual that’s likely incapacitated in a room where a fire and dry system is in place.
@@johnathanruiz-pineda9610 Different animal... Dry-pipe sprinklers are still water, just held back at the control valve and triggered by loss of air pressure in the lines. You're thinking of the Halon or related systems that flood the space with a gas to smother a fire. Those systems aren't typically used in occupied areas due to their danger to life safety... We only find them around here in data centers and electrical installations, with a 60-second "get your ass out of here" alarm before they're discharged...
Was that winter? If it was, then that's the reason why the pipes burst!
Shame all this damage happened to such a new and nice looking school. Did this happen because it froze?
It's all repairable. Yes the pipe froze.
At least you know the system works
We know the system works as it's verified each year but this did highlight the problem that monitoring failed to dispatch fire department
@@nics-systems-electricI know lol I was being satire
Sheesh, a lot of water
I'm surprised to see a school with an outfitted Industrial Arts area.
This makes me wonder what goes on at my high school after hours and during the weekends lol!!
You never know lol
@@nics-systems-electric idk even if the fire alarm works bc it’s so old Lmaoo
I’m kind of concerned what happened right there?!😮
Why don’t you have more subs 😅😂
when was the last full test?
Both sprinkler system and fire alarm system were verified in August or July 2023. monitoring company was switched soon after would have thought they would've done their own verification of the work they did but I guess not.
Thats a lotta damage
Here in Calgary. CFD would’ve left as soon as they found no fires
They were pretty concerned that the monitoring company didn't dispatch them. And they are very helpful in the fact they actually helped clean up. Many fire departments wouldn't.
Edmonton is a different story they help clean up
Stupid question- being there wasnt actually a fire and there doesnt appear be any students/staff in the building, why do not silence the alarm? I dont get how anyone can concentrate or focus with that going off. Its loud on camera, I can only imagine how loud it is in person.
Whether the building has a high occupancy or just weakened staff you still can't silence an alarm when you don't know if there is an emergency or not
Oh my God those fire alarms with the things that go Bing Bing Bing against the metal those are so annoying there’s a wild goat I was in Westhaven tomorrow and it went off because of Carol Karen
Well. I knew this was eas going to be a fun video when i saw it on insta..... The fact that thr monitoring company saw it as a trouble aint alarming in the slightest
@NIC'S-SYSTEMS & ELECTRIC did the secondary school have this issue too?
This is a secondary school.
@@nics-systems-electric the one with the roof top exhaust fans
@@dylanchalmers3011this is the school with the rooftop exhaust fans
@@NyxKemo these are in a fan room. there was a video he did on a school with the roof mounted smoke fans and pressurization fans
@@dylanchalmers3011 but the school in the video is the ones with the rooftop fans in the rooms, not exposed ones
Wow
How'd you get the notification it went off?
A family member that worked there called.
What Happened.
POV:I was in the high school at the time and I was near the alarm panel
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAuWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TEACHER HOLD MEEEEEE *wails in terror and fear*
Also I’m short and light weight so the teacher would be able to hold me
how did the valve get activated
The pipe broke
Would That Part Of The School Have To Be Demolished Or That Part Is Gonna Be Repaired With New Ceiling Tiles And Some New Wall Repairs
You don't demolish a building because of a bit of water that would be like totalling a car because of a flat tire. You just need some new drywall and ceiling tiles probably $20,000-$30,000. You wouldn't demolish a $90 million building for that
@@nics-systems-electric That's Why High Schools Should Not Have Fire Sprinklers Because Fire Sprinklers Are A Bad Idea For High Schools Because Sprinkler Heads Can Bust Or Break And Cause $20,000 Or $30,000 Dollars Of Damages And Repairs And Fire Sprinklers Can Get Light Switches Electrical Outlets Ceiling Tiles Walls And Furniture Ruined
@@ryancrooks123that comment was painful to read. Capitalization and periods man.
@@ryancrooks123 you must be kidding. Not only it wouldn't be legal and wouldn't have insurance. The $20,000 in the rare occurrence that there is improper insulation is nothing compared to the millions that a fire could cause in damage.
@@nics-systems-electricThey Should Put Insulation In The Walls While The Walls Are Being Repaired And In The Ceiling
Dont understand how a pipe would freeze and burst in a modern commercial building like this, especially where cold temperatures are not exactly rare
Insulation was never installed where it was shown in place in the as built drawings
Are there any reasons that they don’t use a dry system
Look at the pinned comment.
Why did the fire alarm send a trouble signal and not an alarm signal to the monitoring company? Is it Point ID to the monitoring company?
I thought I explained that at the end of the video, but it's not a fault of the system in the school the alarm company had their programming labels wrong and had the alarm condition programmed as a trouble
@@nics-systems-electric It’s been a few weeks since this happened. Is everything all repaired now?
@@tomleonard3241 sprinkler pipe is fixed and re-pressurized and drywall has been ripped down that's all
Why did it take the staff so long to call FD? If the alarms go off and it’s a sunday then obviously it’s something suspicious that needs to be investigated
There was confusion with how to handle the situation as they had been told that there was a possibility that dust extraction fire alarm system might cause problems due to the cold temperatures. So they went and looked at it and couldn't find anything wrong they don't have training on how to handle a situation like this where usually the fire alarm system and monitoring takes care of all of the communications needed therefore no human intervention is needed.
@@nics-systems-electric Which is why some schools train their staff for this during the school holidays. I remember one year in elementary, the science teacher burned her cinnamon roll, whole room was smokey and they didn’t even evacuate the school, the alarms was glitching a little bit
Question; if that kind of weather is common in Canada, why are schools not built better to protect against pipes bursting?
They are supposed to be insulated properly but things get missed
I program logic controls and CO (telecom) alarms for a living. Drives me nuts to see a lack of technical intervention here. We have the tech! That system knows enough to know there's not actually an active fire... yet smoke extraction, general siren, and active flows!! Common! Now we have a situation where a "building protection" system is damaging a building. And to think with all those elements active the system called out only a TRBL?? That's a bad programming error 😩
Programming problem on monitoring end, there's not much you can do about pipes freezing they will burst that's not a fault of the system that is a problem with not properly insulated space.
Holy Shit That's Alot Of Damage
Something that's frozen over made the sprkler head pop
No sprinkler heads themselves were set off one of the saddle joints had the rubber gasket pushed out
No Knox box with a master key? You clip in with like 80 keys is craaaazy lol
No we don't use them here anymore too many people broke into them and would rip them off buildings. I'm not a first responder either so I would not have access to it
Is it rare these kind of things happen around your area?
This was the coldest temperatures we had since the last record was set in 63 so yes it created more problems than usual