Hotels and accidental fire sprinkler activations seem to have their own dynamic. What seems to set them apart from other buildings is that few places have the constant influx of diverse visitors that a hotel does. The fact that in many hotel rooms there are signs that say, ‘Please do NOT hang garments from the fire sprinkler heads’, is a clear message that accidental fire sprinkler activations are not an uncommon occurrence.
More than once a wedding gown has been ruined just prior to the wedding by an unsuspecting bride-to-be hanging her dress from the sprinkler head. It is not hard to imagine. Wedding dresses with their long trains often don’t fit properly in closets. The sprinkler head looks high enough that once hung there the dress will not wrinkle. Unfortunately, when a sprinkler head is activated the dress is ruined beyond repair.
Other common activations can be caused by something as simple as a maid flicking a bed sheet that gets caught in the sprinkler head or a painter getting a dab of paint on the sprinkler head then trying to rub it off or kids having a pillow fight.
The amount of water that comes out of a fire sprinkler head can fill a bathtub in 2 minutes. Sometimes guests panic and don’t report the problem immediately which results in serious water damage. Or worse, the sprinkler water shut off system is in a room with a locked door!
For these and other reasons hotel property managers are buying Shutguns.
One property manager said that in 17 years of being in the hotel industry he has seen countless accidental fire sprinkler activations but only one activation was a direct result of a fire. For this reason, he carries his Shutgun with him at all times. Why not? Shutgun is a one-handed tool that shuts off fire sprinkler heads fast and it fits comfortably in his pocket.
