Dealing With a Sprinkler Flood in Your Business

4/13/2022 (Permalink)

Water damage caused by fire sprinklers

A typical business owner in Satellite Beach, FL, doesn’t spend time pondering the effects of catastrophic flooding due to fire sprinklers being activated. However, it’s a problem that can quickly get out of control and cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. The obvious solution to the problem is prevention, but you first need to know what causes the issues.

Reasons For Accidental Activation

Contrary to popular belief, modern sprinkler systems aren’t activated by fire alarms or smoke from burnt food in an employee break room. They instead have to be subjected to extreme heat that will either burst the red liquid bulb or melt the metal sensor. However, there are cases where they will activate accidentally, and the following are common reasons for this to happen:

• Sprinkler heads being used as hangers
• Improper installation
• Vandalization
• Factory accidents

Immediate Steps To Mitigate Losses

In an emergency flooding situation, the first critical step is to turn off the water. In an office or factory setting, it’s important to have multiple designated employees who know how to do this. Once the water is shut off, cleanup can begin. Hundreds of gallons of water can be released in a short period of time, so water damage to floors, walls and machinery happens quickly. The most thorough plan is to contact a water restoration company, which will be able to correctly dry each surface and reduce mold risk.

Long Term Approach

Once the initial cleanup is underway, the next step is to contact the insurance company and prevent the problem from ever occurring again. Employees must be trained to never touch or hang anything near a sprinkler head, and ideal placement for them is in a location difficult for a person or machine to accidentally contact.

Flooding in your business can seem overwhelming. However, there are steps you can take to prevent and minimize damage. At SERVPRO of West Brevard, our professional technicians, will have your facility looking, "Like it never even happened.”