Is Fire Suppression Worth the Investment?

Fire suppression systems are designed to automatically engage when any kind of fire is detected, with the hope of extinguishing or mitigating the flames sufficiently to prevent widespread damage. There are many types of fire suppression systems, and most of them are incredibly valuable.

The question is, are they always worth the investment?

The Basics of Fire Suppression

Fire suppression itself is a simple concept. The idea is to, in response to the emergence of a fire, deploy a set of materials and actions to smother the existing fire and prevent it from spreading.

In an ideal scenario, these measures will be capable of stopping the fire in its tracks, immediately mitigating the damage, and preventing the fire from reaching any new areas. Even if it’s not capable of stopping the spread of the fire, fire suppression can slow the spread, buy time for people to escape, and keep the fire at bay until professionals can handle it.

There are many different types of fire suppression available, including fire suppression systems that utilize:

• Water sprinklers. Most people think about water sprinklers when they imagine fire suppression systems, but these straightforward fire suppression elements are becoming less popular. That’s mostly because water can be as damaging as the fire itself, especially if you’re extinguishing a fire in a data center, with lots of expensive electronic equipment.
• Chemical fire suppression. Halons, carbon dioxide, and various dry chemical powders can be suitable alternatives to suppress fires. They tend to be much less damaging and easier to clean up once the fire is extinguished.
• Foam fire suppression. Foam fire suppression is also commonly utilized. In this case, a chemical foam spray is used to smother the spreading flames.
• Blanket suppression. As an even simpler method of fire suppression, you can use a thick, fire suppressing blanket. This is commonly used in kitchens, where the blanket can contain fires from a stove or food item.

Additionally, some fire suppression systems are totally modular, and can be installed without any major structural modifications to your building.

To figure out whether fire suppression is truly worth the investment, we need to consider the potential damage of a fire that could be prevented and the costs of installing this type of system.

The Potential Damage of a Fire

Fires can be devastating for both residential homes and businesses.

• Injury and death. There are usually 3,000 to 4,000 fire deaths per year in the U.S., and it’s hard to put a price on a human life. If your fire suppression has the potential to save even one human life, the investment is worth it.
• Direct damage and inventory loss. Fires also have the potential to cause immense direct damage and inventory loss. If the fire affects your home, you could lose all your personal possessions. If it affects your business, it could cause egregious loss of equipment and inventory. Even with insurance, you’ll still suffer heavy financial losses – and your insurance rates could go up as a result as well.
• Productivity disruptions. If your business experiences a fire, it could be rendered inoperable for an indefinite amount of time. You may not have access to your office or necessary equipment for days or even weeks.
• Reputational effects. Suffering a fire could also be bad for your brand. Your customers and employees could grow to trust you less if you didn’t have an adequate response plan in place.

Because of these various forms of damage, it’s easy to see why fire suppression is so important. Depending on the size and scope of what you’re protecting, a good fire suppression system could save you hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

The Costs of Fire Suppression

But what about the costs?

The truth is, fire suppression is probably cheaper than you think. A simple water sprinkler for a single room of a residential home can be as cheap as $248. If you want to totally restructure your commercial office building and install the best fire suppression system money can buy, you’re going to spend much, much more. If you invest in a modular system with clean agent fire suppression, you’ll have a comprehensive fire suppression tool for a relatively affordable price.

However, there’s one more important thing to note here. While fire suppression systems are good at what they do, they aren’t perfect or totally comprehensive fire safety measures. It’s also important to have fire alarms, evacuation plans, and training in place to minimize the risk of injury or death.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that in most cases, yes, fire suppression is worth the investment for both residential and commercial buyers. It’s important to shop around for the right system, and make sure you choose a system that minimizes damage to your equipment and inventory, but with the right system in place, your building will be much better protected.