On Saturday, “an individual committed arson on a newly purchased ICE building” by breaking a window, igniting a fire and throwing a propane tank into the building, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
“The fire was quickly extinguished by the interior sprinkler system,” DHS said, noting that the suspect fled the scene after setting the fire. “The matter remains under investigation by the FBI.”
How would one go about successfully burning down a building with a sprinkler system?
To be 100% clear, this question has nothing to do with the linked news story, I was just spontaneously reminded of a plot hole I’m trying to work out in a story I’m writing (in Minecraft).
IMHO avoid the sprinklers from the roof or cut their water supply but if you can’t do that self oxidizing compounds like thermite as well as composite mixtures like napalm(gasoline + Styrofoam in minecraft probably) with oil or bits of crushed sparkler.
Ghengis Khan used birds. Bats have been used even more diabolically. Let history guide you
Use a ladder to climb to the top of the building. Break a hole in the roof. Pour in fuel. Match. Set. Go.
Sprinklers are designed to pour down on the fire, not to shoot up at the ceiling.
Easy, just tape a lot of mops around your firebomb. That way, the mops absorb the sprinkler water and keep it from extinguishing the fire. Ofcourse you’d need asbestos mops as normal ones burn up by the firebomb. Another option is to pack a layer of those tiny cocktail umbrellas around the bomb.
Anyway I’m sure both are available from your local Acme store.
You’d want a flammable liquid so that it floats on the water and spreads more the wetter it is.
Here’s some reading on why https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/blogs/2024/08/12/what-is-a-class-k-fire-extinguisher
Good luck with your story.
yeah, my dad got badly burned by an oil fire he didn’t know what to do with and tried to walk out of the kitchen with. walked the burning pan out the house and got splashed as he threw the fire out into the yard. house was okay. his arm was not. happened before i was born. he made sure we all knew to have a lid handy.
Turn off the water main first? Burn from the top down? Fill the sprinkler pipes with gasoline? Waterproof matches but bigger?
You can’t put out grease fires with water… you need a different kind of system to put out grease fires… propane isn’t grease
I’d figure start from the top rather then bottom. Gasoline and shredded soap mixed in glass bottles to gel up your accelerant a bit might help as well. You still might not burn the place completely down but it should do enough damage to require it to shut down for a good while for fixes.
Hypothetically, of course.
Like the Station fire and the recent one at the ski resort. The hot air coalesces above until it reaches flashover, after which it almost instantaneously ignites everything below it.
Soap is flammable?
Soap + gasoline is basically napalm. Styrofoam is also viable instead of soap.
At a high enough temperature, most things are.