RUBEN TELLS ME that yesterday, he and a plumber were in the process of restoring gas service to the sanctuary building. (Why the gas had been off for a month is a story for another time.) They were in the downstairs kitchen’s closet, bleeding air from the gas line to the water heater. Suddenly, they heard a loud pop and a whoosh.
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| Sprinkler shutoff valve (As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.) |
This post describes what happened next, and its import.…
Moving toward the source of the sound, Ruben and Saul (the plumber) went into the main part of the kitchen. There they saw that one of the ceiling sprinklers — the one located nearest the gas stove — was busily spraying water in the umbrella-shaped pattern that sprinklers are designed to make.
(Sprinklers are heat sensitive: if the temperature at the sprinkler gets above about 150°, a glass tube shatters, releasing a plug that enables water to flow. See video simulation HERE. They are designed to respond only to heat.)
This was such a surprise to Ruben and Saul. After all, a few moments earlier, they had been standing right at that spot, as they briefly turned the stove burners on, and then off again. It was definitely not anywhere close to 150° in that corner of the kitchen.
There was no reason to think that the tiny amount of heat they had generated from the stove would have tripped the sprinkler. But evidently something caused it to trip, and perhaps that something was an otherwise undetected fire (!). So out of an abundance of caution, Ruben went upstairs and urged that the adjacent school building be evacuated. It was. And Ellie called 911 to summon the fire department.
Meanwhile, Saul tells me, he went upstairs to the main gas supply valve to the sanctuary (in the wall of the southeast exit corridor) and turned it off, in case there really was a fire.
Ruben and Saul then went back downstairs. None of the other sprinklers in the building were operating — only this one. And no sign of fire, yet the sprinkler kept going. They sought to turn it off. Saul went outside to the sidewalk in front of the Social Hall doors and shut off the water supply to the building. But the sprinkler kept going.
They went into the sprinkler closet (adjacent to the stairwell that goes up to the Main Street doors) and found the shutoff valve. But it was locked in the open position by a chain with a padlock! (As it should be.)
Soon thereafter, firefighters arrived. Finding no evidence of fire, they cut the padlock with bolt cutters and turned off the sprinkler system. Then they replaced the sprinkler head, using one of the spare heads on the top shelf of the sprinkler closet. They turned the sprinkler system back on before they left.
Role of natural gas — or not
Ruben and Saul say that they did NOT smell gas during the sprinkler episode, except as a result of their having bled air from the gas lines. (The process involves leaving each line open, one at a time, until gas can be smelled.) Still, out of an abundance of caution, Ellie asked Saul to leave the building’s gas off for the time being.
(At first, Saul advised Ellie to have an appliance company come out and check the regulator and fittings of the stove, thinking that perhaps a gas leak caused the sprinkler to go off. He now recognizes that sprinklers aren’t actually affected by escaped gas, but at the time the coincidence seemed like the best explanation.)
Saul tells me that the supply is now readied; it can be turned back on at any time, at our convenience. Someone just needs to reach into the access panel and turn the lever.
Damage done
An inch or two of water accumulated on the floor of the kitchen and in several adjacent rooms. Baseboards and some cabinets may need to be replaced, as may flooring. The damage is still being assessed, because the first priority is to dry everything out as quickly as possible.
Restoration effort underway
Ellie arranged for a flood restoration company to come promptly and minimize the water damage. They are communicating directly with our insurance company. They extracted water from the flooring and installed dehumifiers, while sealing off the area. They planned to come back today with additional equipment and materials.
When I visited the scene at about 4 pm, I left the old sprinkler head on the middle wall shelf near the gas stoves (see photo). The oven mits on the bottom shelf were soaking wet. Water droplets were still visible on the ceiling in the vicinity. The floors and carpet were wet in many areas. Some cabinets and many baseboards were damp.
What caused the sprinkler to go off?
Good question! It could be that the sprinkler simply failed catastrophically on its own.
Ruben showed me the sprinkler head after the firefighter had removed it from the ceiling. Its arms had broken into two pieces. Probably those breaks occurred during the removal of the sprinkler, because otherwise Ruben wouldn’t have seen the umbrella spray pattern of the water while the sprinkler was active. (But best if someone asks the firefighter who actually handled it—who might have noticed something noteworthy.)
Here is a relevant page from our 8/16/21 sprinkler system test, which is required every 5 years. Such inspections attempt to prevent problems due to the advanced age or deteriorated condition of installed sprinklers.
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