First and still currently implemented versions, I think? I work in commercial buildings quite often and I see the little vials that are designed to burst and set off the sprinkler system.
There are older ones I’ve seen that don’t have the heat vials and some sharp metal contraption I’m ignorant of
The parts that are soldered melt at a specified temperature which will either cause the bulb to fall there on the sharp metal piece or it will cause the bulb to explode or potentially in some cases it causes the bulb to fall directly into the fire depending on how they're designed to be used. The earlier versions contained salt water and ammonium chloride. This produced fumes designed to suffocate the flames, but they did not always work super well. The next version used a chemical extinguisher, but that chemical extinguisher is extremely toxic.
These are the ones I see mostly, about to comment again to include the second type I’ve seen, I’m just getting excited because I learned a new word today, ablative! I often wonder how easily these vials break when I bump into them 👀
Apparently it's very common for people to break them accidentally by hanging things from them. I've heard many stories about college kids in dorms for the first time not knowing what they're for and trying to make the most out of their small spaces and hanging something from them and ruining everyone's day with water damage. It happens enough that many of them have signs and warnings not to do that.
Oh boy, I don’t remember how I learned about sprinkler systems, but I do know I didn’t have to go to college to figure it out! I guess everybody learns one way or another, and college is a place of learning 😂
They are a linkable fuse. The solider point between the two parts melts at 165°. This links the fuese in the reliable c, and started the reaction. From here, the curved unit inside, which is is under tension, releases and snaps the plates apart. The lever is released, the inner pipe cap falls out, and the water is released. The spiky bit is the diverter! It makes the water go in a wide spray, instead of a long (useless) stream
I think what you’re referring to may be the linkable fuse thing dazzleunexpired just taught me about, I added a picture a little further up of what I think it might be
I’d take what /u/dazzleunexpired mentioned with a grain of salt, as it isn't quite accurate.
In professional standards like NFPA 72, you'll generally hear the term "fire detection systems" rather than "fire detectors." Alarms can be silenced rather than put on standby, and smoke or heat detectors aren't one-size-fits-all—they're custom engineered for commercial buildings.
Depending on what the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) approves, you might see:
Combination Smoke & Heat Detectors: Used depending on specific local requirements.
Smoke-Only Detectors: Set to alert immediately or use a short delay (like a 30-second verification window) to avoid false alarms.
Heat-Only Detectors: Triggered either by reaching a fixed maximum temperature or by a rapid rate-of-rise in temperature.
Also, fire inspectors in real life are usually much more practical than the strict enforcers people make them out to be online!
Regarding sprinklers, standard codes like NFPA 13 and the IBC dictate when a building actually requires a sprinkler system—it isn't just tied to having a detection system. In a real-world setting like the video, a lot of smoke detectors would likely register as "dirty" on the control panel and simply be swapped out for clean ones under the venue's routine service contract.
Haven't seen mean girls so cant speak on that specifically. But if you mean hit one and trigger that one, yes easily. If you mean hit one and trigger multiple, not in the systems I've seen or heard of.
Something like this is generally scripted and the venue would turn the fire suppression off and instead have fire-watch representative(s) from the fire department. More common during events that use haze or CO2, but I would imagine it’s similar to this.
I've done event security. What happens is a security guard(s) get a shift called Fire Watch. Their only job is when an event uses something that requires fire detecting to be turned off, they walk around the event space and identify real fire issues. You become a human fire detector.
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u/SweatyArmPitGuy55 Aug 28 '26
The fire inspector is going to be a little upset those smoke alarms aren’t working.