Beecher fire Chief Joseph Falaschetti Jr. shows off the residential fire sprinkler system he had installed during an open house at the home he is building east of town. (Bill Jones / Daily Southtown)

Many people think they have an idea of how fire sprinklers work because of how the systems have been portrayed in movies and television shows. Someone pulls the fire alarm, a lighter is held up to a sprinkler head or something starts to smoke, and suddenly the entire building is subject to a dramatic downpour from the ceiling. Everyone and everything is soaked.

But that image is pure Hollywood magic. And Beecher fire Chief Joseph Falaschetti Jr. cannot help but laugh when he hears that common concern of fire sprinkler systems going off and ruining everything.

“That’s not the case,” Falaschetti said. “The head in the area where the fire occurs is the head that goes off.”

But that’s enough to slow the spread of a fire, buying occupants time to escape and giving firefighters a better chance of saving the structure.

That’s why Falaschetti, having seen his fair share of fires, is breaking new ground in Beecher by adding a sprinkler system to the home he has under construction in a rural area east of town, and he’s showing it off to anybody who is interested.

The home sprinklers system being installed at a home being constructed by Beecher fire Chief Joseph Falaschetti Jr. will ultimately be outfitted with plates that make them flush with walls and ceilings. (Bill Jones / Daily Southtown)

Earlier this month, Falaschetti held a public tour of the home after the system was installed but before the drywall covered it. His hope was to educate people about home sprinkler systems and how they can help in the event of a fire. He regularly preaches the benefits of sprinkler systems to businesses and developers.

“I should lead by example and do it when I have the opportunity like I have right now, building a house,” he said.

Falaschetti considered retrofitting his family’s old home with a residential fire sprinkler system, but the family ultimately settled on building a new home and added it to the plans. The sprinkler system was cheaper that way, because lines could be run without drywall already in place.

For his home, it cost roughly $15,000 for the system, plus $2,000 to $3,000 more for a tank system in the basement, because Falaschetti’s home is on well water and lacks the pressure supplied by municipal water.

Falaschetti weighed those costs against potential long-term discounts on homeowners insurance — between 5% and 25% off the fire portion — for those who have residential sprinkler systems. And even with the extra tank cost, it provided peace of mind as fire department response time is longer in rural areas.

“That’s another added benefit to saving a building and contents — getting water on the fire quicker,” Falaschetti said. “But as a husband, a father and a firefighter, I’m looking at that safety factor of having my family in a protected home. That’s the most important thing.”

Erik Hoffer, executive director of the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, uncaps a sprinkler head to explain how the system works during an open house at a home being built by Beecher fire Chief Joseph Falaschetti Jr. (Bill Jones / Daily Southtown)

Residential fire sprinkler systems typically cost 1.5% to 2% of the total cost of new home construction, according to Erik Hoffer, executive director of the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. Falaschetti said contractors that do the work are all over, though people may not realize that until they look into the systems.

In Falaschetti’s home, sprinkler heads are easily spotted near the unfinished basement ceiling. Metal plates are used elsewhere to conceal the heads flush with a wall or ceiling. The welds on those cover plates are designed to come apart at a specific temperature, at which they drop off and expose the sprinkler head, Hoffer said. A few more degrees, and the sprinklers activate — only where the fire is located. Some sprinklers are positioned overhead, while others spray from the side, near the top of walls. Bedrooms may only require one sprinkler head for coverage, while larger rooms are covered by several.

“Education is the main objective of the open house,” Hoffer said. “We commend Chief Falaschetti for leading by example with fire safety in his own community and providing this unique opportunity for education.”

Beecher does not require residential sprinklers, but Falaschetti said a number of municipalities have started to demand them in new construction or extensive remodels. Falaschetti’s home meets the National Fire Prevention Association 13D standard. And the organization notes that more than 100 communities in Illinois have adopted sprinkler ordinances in line with those standards.

Before installing the home fire sprinkler system, Falaschetti worked on a video project with the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition and Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. They used a home in Beecher slated for demolition to make an educational video depicting the difference between a fire in a living room with a home fire sprinkler and one without. The fire in the room without sprinklers spread quickly, while the one with a system had minimal damage. At the open house, the coalition made virtual reality headsets available for guests to view the video in an immersive way.

Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.