Episode 16 | Fire Protection and Fire Alarm

In Episode 16 of the Temporal Three podcast, hosts Bryan McLane and Charles Aulner are joined by Brian Williams from the Dope and Tape Show to explore the intricacies of fire protection. From sharing personal career journeys to discussing the importance of certifications like NFPA 25, this episode delves into the critical role of education and community in the industry. Listeners will gain insights into fostering collaboration between sprinkler and fire alarm systems, and learn practical tips for navigating code compliance and enhancing safety measures.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hello, and welcome to the Temporal Three Podcast. My name is Brian McLean, and I will be your host today. I'm joined by Charles Ulner, my co-host. Hello. And also we're joined by a special guest, Mr. Brian Williams, co-host of the Dope and Tape Show. Welcome, Brian. Thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

Thank you so much for having me on. I love Fire Alarm. Don't know a whole lot about it. You know, you have to really do it every day and have, I guess, a career in being taught, you know, uh throughout your career and then learn and grow. And that's something I've had a little bit of experience on, but mainly uh Sprinkler. But I'm excited to come and talk to you guys and hopefully we can help each other.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Absolutely. Well, Brian, tell us a little bit about your experience and about the Dope and Tape show.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Yeah, so my experience uh started when I guess I was about seven, yeah, 17. Um, and I was uh I was just kind of doing summer work and I would go and I wouldn't I hang pipe a little bit on like a tenant finish, um, but mainly I helped inspectors. I pulled wire on um on some fire alarm jobs, and it was basically just put your hard hat on and just be quiet, don't talk to nobody if you don't just do what you're told and until you're 18, you know. So uh so I was a helper for a while. Um, and then uh and then I told my dad, hey, I'm ready to get started in this full time. I want this to be my career. Um and he said, Well, you're not gonna come work as Todd's son, so uh you're not you gotta go somewhere else and learn your stripes. So he sent me over to a contractor here in Atlanta with a foreman that used to work with him, and then he took me under his wing to my and then the agreement was I get my backflow certification, and then I get my level one and an FDA 25 uh water-based inspections and testing, and then I can come work with him. So at that time, yeah, so it took me about six months to do that, and I uh yeah, went over there. My dad was working at uh at a contractor here in Atlanta. He stepped down. I don't know the position he was in, uh, but then he was my he was my inspection foreman for about two years. Uh super strict, really hard on me, uh, really set me up for the future. Yeah, yeah, really did. And it gave me um, I guess the inspection, you know, it showed me how it really important it is and how to take it super serious. Not it's not just a job. Um and then I I took that throughout my entire career. I was an inspector for about a decade and then uh worked on all kinds of projects. Uh, and then uh and one large contractor, I did large contracts, I did a a short-term like a military contract, and and I worked with the team. Um most of that I was uh I was a like a team lead and I would kind of organize and be the spokesperson for the team with whatever sit the facility that we're inspecting. The uh the military contract was a fire alarm contract, which I was the sprinkler guy for the fire alarm guys. So also I was like, they're do whatever monkey if they don't need me, you know. So I was a low man on the total pole in that crew. Yeah, so that was about six months. Um, but uh good time, a good time. Uh one of the fire alarm guys, I uh for security reasons we had to switch hotels like every week. And um so so I lived with him in hotels for about six about six months, and and uh he's still uh doing fire alarms, special hazard. And he's I don't know, I caught we see each other as family. Um so great experience as an inspector. Um I miss it, I do. Uh and then I got into sales, um, operations, project management, uh foreman for sprinkler jobs, new construction, and uh and now doing dope and tape.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Tell us a little bit about dope and tape.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Yeah, so I was a what was I doing? I was a um doing sales, project management, all that stuff, and I uh I sold some service work to a uh hotel over here in Kennesaw, Georgia. And uh what was the problem was the there was a low pressure issue, and then um, and then uh we lost Charles.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

He'll be back.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

But yeah, there's a low pressure issue, which would cause the pump to kick on momentarily, or the jockey pump, and then it would set off a water flow from the fluctuation of water, and then uh the fire department would be called, and then now they're being threatened to be um to be shut down, or or not even shut down, but you know letters and fines and all that stuff. So I send about three texts, and uh two of them couldn't figure out what was going on. Of course, I had to send three invoices to uh to the customer and it wasn't fixed. So of course they were living, right? And uh so I was like, okay, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming. So I get over there, I'm turning all the valves, I'm testing everything, and then I call on Instagram. There's a call feature in the messenger, blue collar Bobby, who's now my co-host. And I told him the problem. He was on the phone with me probably for a little over an hour. We figured it out. Yeah, it was the suction side check valve of the jockey pump that was creating all the havoc. And um later that night I called him back. Uh, then had a cell phone and I told him, hey, thank you so much for helping me. You know, I really appreciate it. You got me out of a bind. And um, you know, our industry has that problem. We have the problem where we can't just call anybody in the world. We we can only call the people that we know, and uh, and that could be small. Like if you're uh first year, second year, or like five and under, like your your little toolbox for the people you can call with knowledge of you know many years is is limited, and it's only limited to what they've seen in in your area too. Right. Uh so we we started a dope and tape show, not for a podcast. Uh the podcast, of course, is the way that we can bring everybody together, but it's it's for a community. We wanted a community in fire protection and so on social media, like for example, Instagram. We have a growing um following of other fire sprinkler guys and fire alarm guys that post what they're doing every day. They tag us, we communicate uh back and forth. We have a Discord which is free. Um, but you would have to get the link from from somebody that's in it. Uh and it's it's about I want to say it's about 150 to 200 people in there, all fire protection. So it's a s so it's a safe place that someone can go and someone can um ask any question that they want and not be a jerk. If if anybody's a jerk, they're gone immediately.

unknown 7:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Yeah, we don't we don't say, hey, calm down, please don't say it again. No, you've just you're just out of there. That way the apprentices can ask whatever question, you know, there's no dumb questions. They can ask away. And uh and it we've been doing it for about three years. Um number one podcast and definitely live podcasts. We could say that because we're the only one. You know. So uh yeah, it's it's been a great ride. I I love it, and um, I'm excited for the future. I do think that this is the future. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Hey Brian, I have a couple of questions I'd like to throw. Oh crap. Yeah, two Brian's on this call. Not just one, it's Brian.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Yeah, which Brian are you talking to? Yeah, uh I assume you're talking to our guest.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Guest Brian, I have a couple of questions for you. Um first of all, in my years of training, I've done a lot of training for people in Georgia. Uh you don't sound like you're from Georgia. What's the deal with that?

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yeah, I I know. I I get that all the time. I don't I, you know, I don't know. Um I was a boxer and my nose has been broken a lot of a lot of times, and uh it's all messed up. I still need to get surgery, and it's probably that probably makes my voice a little bit nasally, you know. Um so I think that that might be a reason.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Wow. Well, uh how many followers do you have on dopent tape?

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Dope and tape, we are almost at 2,000 on YouTube, which is Wow, that's fantastic. Yeah, it's incredible. On YouTube, and it's all fire protection people, so the pool is small, as you know. Um, but yeah, it's great. And then the people who do follow their passion is in fire protection because if it's not, they're not then I'll list the fire protection stuff outside of work. Uh, there's a lot of people that see this just as a job, and that's that's fine. But um, but having 2,000 people in a small industry like us, we feel like that's super successful. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

And then uh I also have a question on is there an initiation process for sprinkler guys? Do you have to drink a certain amount of sprinkler water or something beneficial?

SPEAKER_03 9:24

Well, you know, uh each state requires certain things. Uh, you know, like down here in the south, you have to have a nice set, but but uh I don't know if things are if hazing is becoming a thing in the past, you know, with the people being softer, but definitely in my day, yeah, a lot of yelling. Uh my foreman, when I first started, uh I don't think he ever said my name. You know, he said other things. I've had I had angle iron, I've had uh alt red thrown at me, I've had you know been yelled at. So there's still some initiation for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Wow. Well, we do have an initiation on the fire alarm side. We consider you're not a real fire alarm tech until you've been electrocuted by a 120-volt fire alarm, then you're considered a real tech. Great, of course.

SPEAKER_03 10:14

I I hit that. I hit that. So I guess I'm a fire alarm guy.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

And then what about NYSET certification? How important is that for y'all on the sprinkler side?

SPEAKER_03 10:27

As far as NAT?

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, uh NISAT.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

Uh NYSAT, okay. So NYSAT is, well, in the southeast, it's very important. So you have you have NYSET, and then also there is another uh there's another certification course that um that was accepted in Georgia where I live that came from Florida, and I think some other states did it. Uh I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. Uh my certifications was is with NISAT. So in in Georgia, uh fire alarm side, you do not need a NISAT to operate. I can hire an 18-year-old kid and make him a fire alarm tech, uh, except for two counties in Georgia that require a level one. Um Fire Sprinkler, you have to have a level one to with supervision to do layout and design for sprinkler, and then a level two in hand. So that's two years of of um two years of on-the-job training with a level two in uh NFPA 25 uh in order to be an inspector. So it's very important for you to get your uh certifications. Education is huge, and we we push education on our show as well. It's huge. And and to be honest with you, in fire protection, it is super affordable. So it's really like are you done go out and get it or not?

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

It sounds like that you have a passion for training, and it sounds like in the sprinkler side, just like in the fire alarm side, that we are very passionate about training, that uh that's the way you grow people that you bring them in, as you said, as you how you started out. And uh I think it's an excellent career path for anybody who's willing to put in the work. I always tell uh newbie fire alarm people if you are halfway decent at what you do, you will always have a job. I mean, it's a great career path. One of it's one of those trades, it is a trade, and it's a trade that will invest in you and train you and make you better. And as long as you're halfway decent at it, you're always gonna have work.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

No, I agree. I agree. But knowledge is key, knowledge is power. Um, and then you always have to what I tell the people who come to me for mentorships or anybody that would listen, you have to ask yourself what's next. And that what next usually starts with education. Uh, for example, I'm going for my level three in inspections. I don't technically don't need it, but I would, you know, I want to go down that path, and that's part of my what's next. Uh, I did reach out to you guys and got a uh NTC black book for level three so I can practice my questions. Back in the day, I want to say that, you know, now I think I feel like I could say that, you know, since I'm over a decade. Um I could say back in the day I had the NTC Black book that I used to fill out my paperwork for NYSA. I had practice questions and I used it heavily. I passed it around. Um, it is beat up. It looks like an old Bible, you know, since it's been beat up and written in and posted, and yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

So it's good stuff. That's great. Well, I'm glad you're getting a lot of mileage out of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

And fire is a code-driven industry. So that education aspect that you're talking about is so important. Certification shows that we have the knowledge required in the industry as well. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

And there's no gray area. For example, if you look at uh um like what lawyers have to deal with, you know, they they they pull from law, they pull from code as well, but there are some ways that you can view that law differently and twist it, and it could be a little bit of a gray area sometimes, especially when you're president in court. But with us, it is it's black and white. I've been to court several times for some customers, and um, and I I would say quoted um our code, and it is that, and it's black and white, and there's no gray area at all, which I think that we I'm really proud of that.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

And like you said, Brian, knowledge is power, being aware of those code requirements is so important in the life safety industry.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Well, guys, I appreciate the uh code segue. Let's talk about code. One of the code requirements in um in the IBC and NFPA 101 as well is sprinkler supervision. And 101 it's in section 3.5 and section 9.7, and the IBC it's 903.4. And it requires that a sprinkler system be certified. So this is where we on the fire alarm side are going to be interacting with the uh with our brother trade on the sprinkler side and providing that interconnection. And if there's a fire alarm system in the building, pretty straightforward. You know, we the sprinkler guys will put in the flow switches and the supervisory devices will connect to them. If there's not a fire alarm system in the building, we may end up putting in a dedicated function fire alarm system, which uh sometimes called a sprinkler supervisory system, which will uh because sprinkler monitoring, according to both 101 and IBC, means it's reporting to a supervising station, which is kind of about, you know, I always say electricity and water don't mix. And uh we need to, you know, we need to work with our fellow trades and understand what their concerns are, and there's certainly an opportunity for both of us to make money on it. Uh I found generally that most uh sprinkler contractors don't want to mess with the electrical stuff, and certainly most uh fire alarm people don't want to mess with the sprinkler stuff. But we can certainly work together on that kind of thing. There's another interesting way that we can work together because in NFTA 13 there is local water flow alarm requirements for systems with more than 20 sprinklers. And there is the option of a mechanical water flow alarm, you know, a water gong, but there's also an electric option as well. And with the electric option, if we're going to do sprinkler monitoring, we're putting in a dedicated function fire alarm system. We might as well put an outdoor horn on it or outdoor horn strobe and make it an electrically indicated system. Brian, from your experience, do you see more water gongs or more electric notification appliances?

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Well, you still have water motor gongs. Um, but I see those mainly in industrial environments. Um, for if there's a requirement or they can't have the electrical uh hookup for whatever reason. Um, but I I believe that water motor gongs, as far as a whole outside of those special uh requirements, I think it's I think electrically there, that's the future. And that's what I like to see because I can hear it and I don't have to clean it out when it gets all gummed up. I feel like it's more reliable over time.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Well, as I mentioned, you know, the the connection has to occur anyway for the monitoring. We might as well might as well carry it on and uh say, look, uh you guys can put in the water gong, but we're happy to put in, and then we have uh horn, if we put a horn strobe, we have audible and visible notification. One common misconception on the fire alarm side about the water gong or about the exterior notification appliance is that it's for the benefit of the building occupants, and it's not. It's actually for the benefit of the fire department because, as you mentioned, an industrial, they drive up and there's ten buildings. Well, which building has a sprinkler system going off? We know because of the indication from the water gong or the indication from the horn to horn stroke. Charles Charles, you've had you've worked uh in the field extensively. Uh, what is your take on that topic?

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Um, some AHJs want that outdoor notification appliance installed, some don't. And uh on occasion you'll have an AHJ who wants to apply notification standards from NFPA 72 for that outdoor device, which is not appropriate at all. It's not used for occupant notification, it's outside notification for as you indicated, probably the fire department. Doesn't have to follow the same rules that our interior devices do. Brian, would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah, the only the only thing that I warn the uh fire alarm people about is it has to be listed as for outdoor use. So there are models that are specifically listed for outdoor use. You can't take a regular old interior strobe or horn strobe and put it outside, even if it's on a weatherproof box, the unit has to be listed for exterior use or outdoor use.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

The other thing I might mention is in on the fire alarm side, uh our AHJs occasionally make mistakes. I'm sure on the sprinkler side that never happens, isn't that right?

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Never. Your AHJs are all experts in the code, right, Brian? Well, of course, all of them.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Yeah. But I I as far you know, while we're on the topic of the outdoor bell, uh when out my time as an inspector, I think it's crucial. I think it's so important. Uh, especially on um on like garden style apartment complexes, which I've it actually and uh I'll tell you a story. So we were doing an inspection at a garden style, uh, the whole crew's out there, fire alarm, extinguisher. I'm out there doing sprinkler and backflow. And one of the one of the buildings that um that I've inspected like the day before the fire alarm went off and I could hear the external uh bell. So I called everybody, hey, is anybody there? I'm not I'm done. It shouldn't be going off. They're like, no, no one's there. I was like, okay, let's all rush over there. So if that's outside bells uh were not going off, I would not know that that was going on or even where it was. And it was a lady cooking, there was a kitchen fire while we were on site, blew the uh the kitchen sprinkler head, and of course, to put out the fire and everything else in the floor, you know. Wow. There's about an inch, two inches of water in there when we were walking in. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Well, I always tell people, my wife doesn't like me telling the story that my wife uses the smoke alarms to know when her food is done. She's fortunately, we don't have a sprinkler system. She'd be testing that on a daily basis, too.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Probably I'm probably gonna get another beating for that comment if she fortunately podcasts as a fire alarm tech.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

As a fire alarm tech, the one thing I can tell you that I was always afraid of was somehow tripping the sprinkler system and having water go everywhere. Um dealing with uh that issue is a problem from our perspective anyway. Uh absolutely. We had one technician who was installing fire alarm equipment, drilling a hole, and went through a wall into a sprinkler pipe, actually. What? Yeah. He kept drilling, he was a dedicated individual. I've drilled for uh a water flow device, and that's hard work putting a water flow in a riser. So but yeah, he ended up flooding a whole warehouse.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Oh man. So as far as putting uh a water flow in a riser, when you're talking about drilling the mechanical tea, drilling that hole.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

Uh yeah, so fire alarms guys do not Um they don't do a lot of those. So I recommend um Arco has this tool called the Hole Master. It goes up to four inches, and then that gives you four levels, it clamps down and it makes the uh the hole cutting experience a lot easier. And you can do it, you can do the perfect yeah, so you can do the a perfect uh cut and and have it leveled, and you don't have to worry about screwing it up and replacing the pipe. Wow, that is cool. Yeah, so I recommend that tool. Um you can maybe borrow it from a sprinkler guy if they have it, or get it for a fire alarm uh division manager or buy it yourself. Yeah, I do recommend that.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

Take a look at that one.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Well, Brian, uh, we have a lot of interaction between sprinkler people and fire alarm people. What would you like your brothers and sisters on the fire alarm side to know about sprinkler systems? How can they do their job better and make your job easier?

SPEAKER_03 22:59

Well, to me, this this question's very easy. So we also had to put on our inspection if the supervisory or the alarms worked, right? If it's in a large building and the fire alarm tech took off where we can't hear the fire alarm going off, then we need to know that log. So if you are getting the alarms, we need to know that. Uh, especially if it's uh on a panel that does not keep uh past alarms in the history, and we can't go back and see that or scroll through. Uh there's no real way for me on the other side of the building to know if alarm or the supervisor went off. Uh sometimes, you know, you just have to be like, okay, I guess it worked, you know, but uh that is crucial, crucial because we could be wrong. Um, and if we can get with the fire alarm tech at the time of their inspection and say, hey, did you get this? Hey, did you get that? Um, that will help us with our accuracy on our inspection. But it's it's it's very hard to do it alone. Uh, if sprinkler companies or any guys watching this, uh please send your fire alarm techs with your sprinkler guys to do the inspection at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Absolutely. That coordination, I agree, is really important. Yeah. And gonna save uh save us as uh fire alarm people struggling to test some of the devices, you know, testing uh the water flow devices, the tampered switches, you know, not really a huge concern. Just remember to reopen the valve. But flow switches, you know, are another story, particularly on dry pipe or deluge or pre-action systems, you know, it becomes we we don't necessarily understand that as well as the sprinkler people do. And I think that's where a lot of people, as Charles said, he's always, as a technician, he was always afraid of spilling water. And I can tell you it happens all the time, but having that coordination certainly makes everybody's lives a lot easier, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Yeah, especially, I mean, especially when you're you're dealing with those, I want to say, complex uh risers, the delusion, the preactions. There's a lot going on. Uh even sprinkler guys, they get intimidated, these all the piping and you know, second guessing themselves like, hey, am I doing this right? Um, so yes, it's that's another reason why you need to be together and work together. It's so important. And then also when it comes down to um to on the contracting side and the job side, it saves labor. Um, and then also it it keeps from having an accidental emergency. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

Well, there's another big uh area of cooperation that I would like to address. And uh I think it'd be so helpful if on your uh sprinkler pipe hangers you put a little J hook for fire alarm cable. Because everywhere you run your sprinklers, I need to run fire alarm cable as well. And uh boy, it'd be convenient for us if we could just hang it on your sprinkler hangers, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Yeah, no, yeah. Well, I mean, you think it comes down to code too. I'm sure you get an argument with the sprinkler guy because he's like, hey, there's no foreign objects that's supposed to be touching my pipe unless like the listed alarm cable, like for example, uh like uh what they call that stuff. Yeah, protector wire, something like that. So then you know, the sprinkler guys on this tell you, go go run it somewhere else, get your own conduit.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

You know, I know, but if we work together, we could petition NFPA to change that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

I mean, with the two Bryans, with the two Brians going up against the NFPA committee, how could they possibly deny you?

SPEAKER_00 26:50

That's right. How could they say no for our years of expertise?

SPEAKER_03 26:53

Well, I mean, you can just have on the hanger a little little you know little D-ring there, you know, to run it. You know, we just had to change the hanger. And technically it's not touching the pipe, which is the code. If the code is touching the pipe, you know. So there you go. I think you'll be safe then.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Sounds like a million-dollar idea, Charles. Well, Brian, I want to thank you again for joining us today. And be sure and check out the pipe, uh, excuse me, dope and tape show uh on all your favorite podcast channels, YouTube as well, Brian. That's primarily YouTube because it is a live attack.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

Primarily, that's right. And then we it's live, so people can join the YouTube while it's live Thursdays at nine o'clock Eastern Standard Time. Uh, sometimes we do sponsored episodes on Tuesdays. Uh, but yeah, we have we have questions coming in. We have uh we have about 20 to 25 live participants that come and they ask questions and they say, you know, hello to us, welcome, you know, thank you for doing another show. All the things that they say here, some of the things, you know, I can't repeat, but it's a fun time.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

And Brian, you're over 200 episodes now. Is that true?

SPEAKER_03 28:05

We are we are at episode 200. So episode 200, we we want to have back on uh Mountain Man Paul, who's probably the hardest man on sprinkler. He's been he's over 20 years in the industry. He lives in a bear sanctuary. He usually outside with a with a with a spotlight, and if he hears something, he's checking for a bear. Oh, oh, wait, wait. It might be a bear. But he he hangs pipe miles under the ground in the coal mine on his knees, hanging four-inch mane, drilling hangers. Wow. Like one hard man, yeah. So no none of us can complain about a day's work, but he's down there with a smile on his face.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

What an awesome participant in your podcast. That's fabulous. Yeah, he's a great guy.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Well, I would also encourage our fire alarm listeners, our temporal three listeners, to check out the dope and tape show and learn a little bit about the sprinkler side of the business and interact with your compatriots in the sprinkler side. And Brian, uh, we're you're not gonna let the sprinkler people trash fire alarm people on your event podcast, are you?

SPEAKER_03 29:14

Never. We need you guys. Never. You know, I uh something about fire alarm um that I wanted to bring up that I I I last year, mid-last year, I came across it in Florida. But in um, and I wanted to ask it to you guys, but in some one, you know, single uh family dwellings, some like condominiums, uh, especially I think I was in Orlando, Tampa area. Uh they were putting in a sprinkler, I was looking at blueprints, I didn't see any fire alarm, and I asked about if it's on a separate like cut sheet, you know, and uh they were like, no, there's no fire alarm, there's nothing.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

And uh and and I thought that was a terrible idea. I thought, I mean, how is that even approved?

SPEAKER_02 29:57

Horrible. Well, yeah, yeah, they uh probably have a requirement for smoke alarms, the 120 volt smoke alarms in those facilities, but they may not have a fire alarm requirement at all.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

But no notification, no outside bell, you know. Uh I I I think if you're if you're to load in the house with sprinkler heads, which is also loading the house with water, I think I would want to know when that, you know, when something happened.

SPEAKER_02 30:27

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

That's just my opinion. I know you have plumbing throughout the house, but it's not you know facing downwards in a room. So but uh that's also the future. I I believe that future is fire protection and in uh in housing and on the residential side, and and uh I would like to see fire alarm put into that as well. Uh I think I think it might be a little while just because of the cost of construction, no one wants to spend that extra money. Um hopefully we'll see it in the future.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

N FPA puts out statistics every year and it's consistent. Ninety percent of fire alarm or fire fatalities are residential.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

So residential sprinklers connected to a fire alarm is a great way to provide that protection.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Well, be being from Florida specifically, growing up in Miami, I can tell you that I have a saying about Florida that I don't need Netflix to see stranger things. I'm from South Florida. So uh nothing nothing that I hear about Florida code surprises me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

They're a whole nother world down there.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yes, they are, like another planet. You know, and uh I was talking to a fellow down there one time where he was there were complaining, we were uh one somebody was complaining about the alligators, and the guy says, Oh, you guys got alligators, we got rats. Yeah in New York. So right. Oh, you're in New York, Bryce? No, I'm in I'm in North Carolina, actually. But the the fellow was complaining about the alligators. One fellow's complaining about alligators in Florida. He says, I'm from New York. He says, uh, you know, alligators are like rats in New York, they're just all over the place. My gosh. Well, thank you again, Brian, for joining us. And like I said, be sure and check out the dope and tape show on YouTube and participate live and get a connection for some of your fellow uh people in the fire protection industry. Learn a little bit, make some connections, and I want to thank you again for participating. Charles, thanks again for your participation.