On Wednesday, May 21, 2014 1:32:36 PM UTC-4, Stephen Sprunk wrote:   
      
   > I've never heard of sprinklers actually stopping a fire, but I lived in   
   > a few such places and had to evacuate several times per year because   
   > some idiot used their sprinkler for a coat hanger and broke it open,   
   > which triggered the building fire alarm.   
      
   There was a bad fire in a Phila office building.  Some floors had sprinklers,   
   and when the fire reached such a floor, it was extinguished.   
      
   As I understand it, sprinklers are very effective, but also very costly to   
   install.   
      
   Since sprinkler heads are on the ceiling, aren't they, how does one use it as   
   a coat hook?  Sprinkler heads have been around for ages, I would figure   
   everyone knows what the heck they are and would avoid touching one.   
      
   An old computer room had Halon fire suppression, but that seemed to be overly   
   sensitive and the alarm kept going off.  There was a short delay to enable   
   pepole to stop the alarm and prevent dumping, but from time to time the Halon   
   dumped.  (I don't know    
   what happened to breathable air in the room in such circumstances, though   
   employees were told not to be in the room during a Halon dump.)   
      
      
      
      
      
   > I know diesel is close to non-flammable (you can actually use it to put   
   > _out_ a fire), but gasoline and kerosene are highly flammable; since   
   > crude oil contains all of those, though, what is the resulting risk level?   
      
   The previously mentioned Trains Magazine article on oil tank trains discusses   
   the various oils and their associated risks.  One problem is that the Bakun   
   crude oil has more violatile content in it (better explained in the article   
   than I can).   
      
   As I understand it, fires or other breaches from tank cars are extremely rare;   
   the trains are generally durable to withstand mishaps.  There is an effort to   
   utilize a newer more secure tank car design (again, explained better in the   
   article.)   
      
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