June/July 2014Russell P.

Fleming, President, National Fire Sprinkler Association

Ken Isman Awarded Position at University of Maryland

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NFSAs Vice President of Engineering Ken Isman has accepted a position as

Clinical Professor in the fire protection engineering department at the University of
Maryland, beginning at the end of August. In this position, Ken will be able to
share his practical knowledge of fire protection engineering and the regulatory
world of codes and standards.
While this is certainly a loss for the NFSA, it is something that Ken looks forward
to greatly. NFSA members who have participated in classes or online seminars
conducted by Ken can appreciate his passion for teaching, so I'm sure you all join
me in being happy for Ken and wishing him the very best in this new chapter in
his life. Ken has worked with me for more than a quarter of a century, and I have
nothing but the highest regard for his character and abilities. Hell be a valued
addition to Marylands faculty.

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At last weeks meeting of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors, I was
asked to develop a plan within the next 30 days to ensure that NFSA engineering
services maintain their recognized level of excellence. I have been consulting with
some of our industry's technical leaders with regard to the options for continuing
the array of technical programs, publications and training opportunities for which
NFSA is known.

On the plus side, Ken's new position will allow him some flexibility to continue
working with NFSA in a consulting capacity, and I can assure you that this will be
a feature of the plan.

Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or concerns at

fleming@nfsa.org as we move forward to ensure that NFSA technical activities
remain the gold standard in the fire sprinkler industry.

Highlights from NFPA Las Vegas

In past years, one of my favorite online technical seminar subjects to present each
year was the summary of highlights from the NFPA Annual Meeting. This years
meeting, held at the Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas strip, was an important one
for the NFPA since it marked the transition in leadership between Jim Shannon
and Jim Pauley.

Jim Shannon, who has proven himself a great advocate of fire sprinklers, is
retiring at the end of this month after 12 years as President of NFPA. In
recognition of his support of the fire sprinkler concept, NFSAs International Fire
Sprinkler Association honored Shannon in February with its Harry Marryatt Award,
making him only the fifth recipient of this award and the first native-born American
to receive the honor.
For me, one of the personal highlights of this years conference was an
educational session that focused on my analysis of the Haunted Castle fire that
killed eight teenagers in New Jersey 30 years ago. Using todays fire models, the
researchers re-examined the analysis I had performed in the aftermath of trial

testimony by two prominent fire protection engineers to the effect that a fire
sprinkler system would not have saved the lives of the teenagers. My analysis
pointed out mistakes made by the prominent engineers, and showed that the
system would likely have saved the lives of the teenagers. The story of this new
re-analysis was featured in the May/June issue of the NFPA Journal. It was
extremely gratifying to sit through the presentation and learn that my work three
decades ago has withstood the test of time.
Some other highlights of the conference:
Modeling Storage Occupancies Under Sloped Ceilings Victoria
Valentine, P.E. and Kenneth Isman, P.E., NFSA and Noah Ryder, Custom Spray
Solutions
NFPA 13 does not provide guidance when a storage occupancy has a ceiling
slope of more than 2 in 12, based on a theorized distortion of the sprinkler
operating area that was suggested in small-scale modeling more than 20 years
ago. The NFSA engineering department retained Custom Spray Solutions to
conduct state-of-the-art computer modeling of various pitched roof scenarios.
Preliminary results indicate that the distortion in operating area with slopes may
be less than what has been theorized.

Home Fire Sprinkler Costs Changes Since 2008

A panel discussion on the 2013 survey of dwelling sprinkler costs included
California State Fire Marshal Tanya Hoover, residential sprinkler contractor Tony
Fleming, Lisa Bowles of Newport Partners, and a representative from the National
Association of Homebuilders, Paul Emrath. While the comparison to the earlier
study is somewhat apples to oranges since the home types varied, it is clear that
the statewide adoption of mandatory home sprinklers in California and Maryland
led to lower costs. One of the most telling moments came in response to a
question from the audience as to how low the cost of dwelling sprinklers would
need to drop in order to eliminate homebuilder resistance to mandatory sprinklers
for new homes. Mr. Emrath answered that homebuilder resistance has become
deeply entrenched.
Hybrid Water Mist Systems Michael Gollner, University of Maryland

By looking at a number of variables including oxygen concentration in the room

during a fire, extinguishment mechanisms, and design considerations, Michael
built a case for these systems (water mist/nitrogen) having their own standard, i.e.
a separate document apart from NFPA 750 or NFPA 2001.
Water Mist Systems Zach Magnone, Tyco and Stuart Lloyd, Zurich Risk
Engineering (UK)
Most of this presentation involved the definition of water mist and the mechanisms
used by water mist to control or suppress a fire. Zach concluded that water mist
works pretty well in small compartments that are tightly sealed (no ventilation), but
expressed concern that no real building is tightly sealed.

The most interesting and concerning part of the presentation was Stuarts
discussion of existing water mist products and some tests run by the British
Research Establishment (BRE). According to Stuart, the BRE did 48 full-scale fire
tests using listed or approved water mist products that were installed in
accordance with their listing to protect the types of fires that they had been listed
or approved to protect (such as a desk in an office with combustibles on and
under the desk). In 47 of the 48 fires, the mist systems failed to control or
suppress the fire.

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Lithium Ion Batteries Vijay Somandepalli, Exponent Failure Analysis

Associates

Exponent has done a tremendous amount of research into dealing with Lithium-Ion
Batteries. Some of their findings:

1.Any stored energy source (including water behind a dam) can cause
damage if the energy is released in a manner inconsistent with its intended
design.
2.There is no single type of Lithium-Ion battery. The term applies to a family
of batteries with different chemical combinations.
3.All of the Lithium-Ion batteries on the market at this time have the potential
to create gasses during a short circuit or thermal runaway that are more
flammable than methane.
4.The Lithium-Ion battery can get into a thermal runaway condition at a
temperature as low as 80C.
5.The chemical combination that is being advertised by the manufacturers as
safer has the potential to burn with a higher heat release rate than other
Lithium-Ion batteries when it gets to a thermal runaway condition.
6.Depending on the chemical condition inside the battery and the mechanical
condition of a battery after a fire or other event where the battery suffers
damage (like a car accident), it is possible for the battery to go into a
runaway thermal condition as much as 22 hours after the incident. So, for
example, after a car accident, if the battery is not fully discharged at the
scene, it could start a fire in the flatbed truck taking it to a repair shop or in
the repair shop itself a day later. From a procedural standpoint, this will
make post-fire activities different for firefighters. In a single car accident,
the firefighters will need to be able to safely discharge the batteries before
removing the car from the scene. But consider a whole storage warehouse
with these batteries. In this case, after a fire in the warehouse, all of the
batteries will need to be discharged before you can conclude that a
rekindling will not occur.

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