Fire suppression systems that protect entire rooms are increasingly common. They have long been in certain types of facilities, such as emergency generator rooms at power plants.
They typically involve this sequence of events:
• System initiates a 60 second (or other timing) audible and visual “get out now” warning.
• Doors and vents automatically close.
• Nozzles release suffocating agent.
The last step is effective at snuffing out fires, because of the second step. But that second step is why we have the first step. If you don’t leave in time and there’s no manual over-ride inside the door, you’ll die in that room.
The trade-off in the design is whether you put everybody else in danger to save one person who violated the rules. In many cases, there’s only one correct answer and it isn’t in favor of the one person. Adding additional administrative steps such as sign-ins/sign-outs helps; a response team can extract a trapped person and quickly reseal the door. But always follow the rules for these rooms.
