Grinnell/Tyco’s subsidiary
Central Sprinkler Company recently announced that 35 million of its
sprinkler heads on fire protection systems contain defective O-rings, and
all must be replaced. According to a July 19, 2001 press release, it was
found that the sprinklers could degrade over time when the sprinkler heads
corrode thus causing the sprinkler heads not to activate in a fire. The U.
S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Central Sprinkler
Company, a Lansdale, Pennsylvania affiliate of Tyco Fire Products, issued
the press release jointly. This is the third largest product replacement
program in CPSC history, and it will cost Tyco/Grinnell as much as $300
million and could take over five years according to published accounts.
"We determined that O-ring seals can and will degrade over time," said Bob
Brinkman, president of Central Sprinkler Company.
The defective sprinklers were installed in countless thousands of
facilities, including day care facilities, hospitals, schools,
dormitories, nursing homes, apartments, houses, parking garages,
warehouses, and office buildings. Tests in February 2000, showed that the
sprinklers had a 20% failure rate, therefore the product was denied
endorsement by the Underwriters Laboratory and the National Fire
Protection Association, a safety advocacy group.
The Underwriters Laboratories, which provides safety certifications
found a 26% failure rate from the sprinklers, and recommended that the
sprinklers be replaced in February 2000, according to press
accounts. However, Brad McGee, a Tyco senior vice-president, said it was
"too early" to consider a recall or replacement of the sprinklers,
according to a July 19, 2001 Associated Press story.
As a result, the company did not issue the repair notice until
seventeen months later. Subsequently, one person was killed and two people
injured in a February 27, 2000 fire in the Philadelphia area due to the
alleged failure of a Central Sprinkler system. In the same fire, a
firefighter was also injured. Central Sprinkler has received 13 reports of
sprinklers failure to activate during a fire resulting in property damages
against Central Sprinkler in amounts ranging from $1,000 all the way up to
$100,000. Another sprinkler failure resulted in a blaze at the Bowie
apartment complex in the Washington, DC area. There have been property
damage claims filed against Central Sprinkler in at least two cases.
In a statement by Ann Brown, Chair of the CPSC, she stated that,
"...lives can be at risk when (the sprinklers) don’t operate." With
regards to Central Sprinkler Company’s knowledge of the sprinkler head
failure, she stated that, "they knew we were serious, we are investigating
sprinklers made by other companies and will recall them if we find them
defective."
While Central claimed the recall was conducted voluntarily, their press
release failed to note that the recall was instigated as part of a
settlement of a class action lawsuit against the company.
Central manufactured 33 million "wet" sprinklers with the O-rings from
1989 to 2000, and 2 million dry sprinklers with O-rings from the mid-70s
to June 2001. One hundred sixty seven thousands sprinklers manufactured by
Gem Sprinkler and Star Sprinkler from 1995-2001 are also covered by the
repair program. Tyco/Grinnell also owned Gem Sprinkler and Star Sprinkler.
Two million and five hundred thousand sprinklers that were installed in
other countries, mostly in Canada, are also included in the recall,
according to Central Sprinkler.
The fire sprinkler heads have the words "CENTRAL" or "STAR," the letter
"G" in triangle, or a star-shaped pattern, or the model designation and
date, stamped on either the metal sprinkler frame or the gear-shaped metal
piece at one end of the sprinkler head. The sprinklers will be replaced
free of charge. If you have one of these defective sprinklers in your
building, you may call Central Sprinkler Company at 1-800-523-6512, or
1-800-871-3492 to arrange its replacement. You may also research this
issue at the web site: www.sprinklerreplacement.com.
In 1998, Central Sprinkler was involved with another recall. This time
about 10 million defective "Omega" sprinklers were recalled, because the
CPSC found that the Omega sprinklers were likely to fail. Failures of the
Omega sprinklers were implicated in 20 fires, causing injuries and
millions of dollars in property damage, according to the Consumer Product
Safety Commission. Central Sprinkler agreed to pay a $1.3 million fine in
the recall after the safety agency alleged that the company was tardy in
disclosing the problems.
The troubled history of Central Sprinkler, which burst into the
headlines because of its massive recall of the defective Omega sprinkler,
is deeply entwined with Tyco/Grinnell. Grinnell itself, because of its
installation of the defective sprinklers, had its own role to play in the
Omega recall. While Central Sprinkler was on the financial ropes in the
wake of the Omega recall, Tyco/Grinnell swooped in and bought Central
Sprinkler at fire sale prices in July 1999.
However, becoming a subsidiary of Tyco/Grinnell has not ended Central
Sprinkler’s problems. Since Tyco bought Central Sprinkler, Central was
been implicated in dozens of federal court suits and is the defendant in
many recent cases. Some of these cases may be related to the sprinkler
failures that are at the basis of the recent recall. Some of these
lawsuits may have originated in state courts, and all or part of these
suits may have been settled. The FPC will provide further details in the
next issue.
FPC
