Polartec Fire – January 2011: What Fire Sprinklers Are Supposed To Do

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Just before Christmas In 1995, a large part of the Malden Mills complex in Lawrence, Massachusetts burnt to the ground.  At that time, Malden Mills was the major employer in the Merrimack Valley.  As part of a well coordinated effort to get people back to work as quickly as possible, R.W. Sullivan Engineering was called on to be a part of the team that would rebuild the existing textile factory.  Our scope of work included analysis of and improvements to the existing fire protection water supply system as well as design of new fire sprinkler and standpipe systems to protect the new building including not only protection for manufacturing areas but a high rack storage automated warehouse, large industrial drying ovens and the ductwork and the equipment that would eventually catch fire. 

On January 26, 2011 at 7:45 in the morning, black smoke and the flames shot into the air from a rooftop air filtering unit.  The fire protection system activated and according to a Methuen Fire Lieutenant, “the fire was almost immediately suppressed by the plant’s internal fire control system.” 

For the full story go to:

http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x233326655/Polartec-fire-quickly-brought-under-control