A hotel that was still under construction burned in Tampa, Florida on Friday. Sprinklers that had been installed and tested in the structure were not yet fully functional according to the report.
I’m assuming the FDC was not yet connected because the story makes it sound as if the fire department’s hands were tied until the roof burned through and vented itself after fire fighters were evacuated.
Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley told FOX 13 that when crews arrived at the scene, there were flames coming from the roof of the hotel. Crews were battling the fire from the inside until winds began pushing the flames through the building, and it had to be evacuated in what he called a “code red” situation.
Sprinklers were no help to firefighters in this case. According to Yeakley, the building’s sprinkler system was installed and tested, but it was not yet fully functional.
Without sprinklers or crews on the inside, firefighters found their options limited after evacuating the building.
‘Roofs do what they’re supposed to do — they repel water,’ Yeakley explained. ‘Unfortunately, since we’re no longer inside attacking the fire, it actually will hit that roof and run off. So it’s going to take us a long time for it to actually be able to vent itself, and then be able to extinguish the fire.'”
The story from the Fox affiliate in Tampa includes aerial footage of the fire.
Fire Sprinklers 