Viega Participates in Local Burn Room Challenge Event

Local event uses Viega PEX Fire Sprinkler system in burn room demonstration to promote fire sprinkler safety.

Viega LLC partnered with the McPherson Fire Department to host a burn room demonstration for the public at Wickersham Park to promote fire sprinkler safety and awareness.

The McPherson Fire Department set up two identical 10-feet-by-10-feet rooms with furniture, equipped one room with a Viega PEX Fire Sprinkler system and started a controlled fire to demonstrate the little time it takes for a room to completely burn without the use of a sprinkler system.

While the room without the sprinkler system was immediately engulfed by the fire, the room equipped with a Viega PEX Fire Sprinkler system was saved quickly with little water damage. In addition to the fire sprinkler burn challenge, the event also included an appliance fire demonstration and a class that taught the proper use of fire extinguishers.

“Our goal for this event is giving the public a better understanding of some of the effective, economical sprinkler options that are available today,” said T.J. Wyssmann, division fire chief at the McPherson Fire Department. “Many materials found in modern homes cause fires to burn faster than ever before, but a sprinkler system can stop the fire in its incipient stage, hold the flames at bay until fire personnel arrive and allow everyone inside to exit safely.”

Viega makes fire protection installations simple with reliable, integrated system solutions that reduce callbacks and increase confidence on the job and afterward. Viega PEX Solutions offer installers several advantages, primarily installation time savings. With Viega PEX Solutions, installers can mount all the brackets, run the tubing and then press all the fittings, making the installation quicker and easier. In comparison, rigid pipe must be installed in a tedious, step-by-step process. “When a fire sets off a sprinkler system in a home, it rarely makes the news because it’s a non-event,” said Seth Larson, product manager, plastics at Viega. “The Viega PEX Fire Sprinkler system is designed to save lives, and these kinds of demonstrations show just how quickly a fire can spread without the help of fire sprinklers.”