Don’t be fooled by Hollywood or the media’s myths about fire sprinklers. This site attempts to provide the most complete documentation of movies, TV shows, TV commercials, and other media improperly depicting the function and operation of fire detection and suppression systems on the web.

Five common fire sprinkler myths repeated by Hollywood are:

• Myth #1: Pulling a fire alarm activates the fire sprinklers.
• Myth #2:  All sprinklers activate simultaneously.
• Myth #3: Lighters/open flames activate the fire sprinklers (often from many feet away and after only a few seconds).
• Myth #4: Fire sprinklers can be activated via the internet or some other magic button. 
• Myth #5: Smoke alone can activate the fire sprinklers.

The list and videos provided below are meant to be used for educational purposes. A key to the error codes is listed below the table.

The additional resources section provides links to the leading fire sprinkler organizations, where details on the true operation of fire sprinklers are available.

If you have a suggestion about something that should be added to the list, let me know and share it at the bottom of the page!