History Of Fire Sprinklers

When we talk about the history of fire sprinklers, we usually refer to the first modern sprinkler installed at Theater Royal, London, by British Inventor Sir William Congreve. However, the earliest report dates back to the 15th century, during Leonardo Da Vinci’s period. 

Let’s divide each section into separate parts for better understanding. 

Leonardo Da Vinci: 15th Century

Leonardo Da Vinci, the painter we know, created beautiful art pieces like The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. Unknown fact about him: he is also known to have designed the first sprinkler system while he was trying to arrange a dinner party for his guests supported by automated machines. His plan failed tremendously, as his entire mechanism malfunctioned. And so did his sprinkler when it flooded the whole area after extinguishing the burnt food. 

Ambrose Godfrey: 1723

This is when the first automated sprinkler system came into the picture. Invented by Ambrose Godfrey, a chemist, he utilized gunpowder to enable a large quantity of water to extinguish the given fire. Even though this method did not turn out to be a practical solution for advanced sprinkler systems, it did become one of the pillar concepts for developing the fire extinguisher.  

John Carey: 1807

Though it is well known that Congreve patented the first improved fire sprinkler system, John Carey developed another design before this and filed a patent for it. His idea was to enable perforated pipes in fire safety systems. It is important to remember here that it has been almost a century since Godfrey and her gunpowder innovation. 

William Congreve: 1812

He is predominantly known for being the first to patent an advanced and modern design of fire sprinklers. His design was installed at the Theatre Royal in London. His innovation included a reservoir for water, which, during an emergency, would seep into a connected area of perforated pipes, producing a sprinkler effect. 

The problem with his sprinkler system was that it was not automated. You’d have to manually suppress the fire with the help of those perforated pipes. It took 12 years for the next person to arrive and patent the first-ever automatic sprinkler system. 

Frederick Grinnell: 1850

Frederick Grinnell, the creator of the ‘Grinnell Sprinkler,’ established his company in 1950 to develop and manufacture sprinkler systems. Gradually and eventually, he established the sprinkler industry and developed the existing designs and mechanisms of what we know as modern-day sprinkler systems. 

Philip W. Pratt: 1872

The next goal for inventors was to invent an automatic fire sprinkler system that would not require manual labor. Philip W. Pratt developed the first design for a fully automatic sprinkler system. 

Henry S. Parmalee: 1874

Two years after Pratt developed his design, Henry S. Parmalee improved it and added the automated sprinkler head, which shatters inside the unit at a specific heat temperature and enables the flow of water to be extinguished and suppressed.