EXACTLY. None of us has ever seen a gas station fire in all likelihood because the equipment is equipped with so many fail-safety devices and so long as idiots aren't smoking or lighting incense as they refuel, it's very low risk, empirically speaking. If there's a fire on the ground, how well does a canopy trap heat? With no walls, the horizontal movement of byproducts is going to be fairly high-velocity, no? Unless you have some fire modeling or test data in hand, your and my guesses are the best we're going to have with regard to the chances of sprinklers skipping or even operating at all. The AHJ is probably requiring sprinklers for the reason you state - so he/she can sleep at night, so give them sprinklers.
As to the use of foam by responders, I think everyone would agree that there's a significant difference in the metrics of programming operations in a muni fire department than in the cost-benefit analysis of a fixed foam extinguishing system and the impact it would have on the design of the protected premises. Water has been successfully fire tested in flammable liquids fires, from mist to ESFR. So if the AHJ wants sprinklers, give them "sprinklers". SL -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 2:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Canopies Over gas Pumps Wow, really? What is that stuff the guys in the red trucks spray on liquid fuel spills and over car fires? Hate to disagree but OH I is even questionable for a parking garage regardless of what NPFA says and for a gas station well it's just silly. I've never seen a little gas station fire. But at the end of the day you do what allows you to sleep at night. Craig L. Prahl Fire Protection Group Lead/SME CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29303 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Leyton Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 4:51 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Canopies Over gas Pumps Please, stop. This is NOT flammable liquids storage. Foam and wind effect and all this other stuff is Henny-Penny-the-sky-is-falling distraction (IMHO). 7.3.5.2 of 30A states, " Where required, an automatic fire suppression system shall be installed in accordance with the appropriate NFPA standard, manufacturer's instructions, and the listing requirements of the systems. Obviously, NFPA 13 doesn't have a prescriptive for fuel island canopies, so let's use some common sense. The fuel is stored in UG tanks away from the islands and retail store or cashiers hut. NFPA 30 doesn't apply as this isn't storage, but Chapter 18 states that when a hose is used in the transfer of F/C liquids as part of an "incidental operation", it shall be equipped with a self-closing valve. That's what a automotive fuel hose does - it's a dead man that kicks off from several triggers including back pressure and impact. So the movie scene of a guy having a heart attack and squirting a steady stream of fuel into the air as a crow drops a burning cigarette butt into the pool is ... far-fetched. At most, we can reasonable expect that there could be a quart of gasoline on the ground if there's an accident, so we would be protecting for that and the cars at the island that are ostensibly full or nearly full of fuel. Just like in an OH 1 parking garage. OH 2 if it's a month ending in Y ... my 3¢. SL -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 10:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Canopies Over gas Pumps This is outside the purview of NFPA 13. You're dealing with flammable and combustible liquids, hydrocarbons on which water alone will have limited affect. For fuel loading/unloading stations it is common to employ foam-water deluge for the area below the canopy. Also an option is dry chemical. Pyrochem has a system called ATTENDANT II (distributed by Tyco) The HAJ would have to approve either one but more tend to lean towards a sprinklered solution than a one-shot gaseous system. A very windy day could totally render a gaseous extinguishing system useless. For design you do need to consider wind effect on your system discharge. Don't get swayed into the minimum .16 gpm/sf permitted on foam-water systems. You can have coverage issues again due to wind influences. NFPA 30, NFPA 30A, NFPA 16 and NFPA 2001 are good places to start. Good luck and have fun! Craig L. Prahl Fire Protection Group Lead/SME CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29303 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of James Crawford Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2015 1:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Canopies Over gads Pumps Looking for some direction on the protection of a Gas Service station canopy over the gas pumps. We have an AHJ that want the canopy protected, but I can't find anything that outlines the protection requirements for this area. My first thought is Extra Hazard group 1. Can someone point me in the right direction Thank you James Crawford Phaser Fire Protection Ltd. 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