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Action Line City fire-infrastructure signs spark curiosity

On the outside, northeast corner of the Steamworks building, there’s a commemorative metal plaque that says “Fire Dept. Conn.” What’s the Fire Department of Connecticut doing in Durango? Sign me as Conn-fused

Action Line tried to contact the Fire Department of Connecticut. A quick Google search showed 335 individual fire departments and stations in Connecticut, but none representing the entire state.

So that prompted a call to our good friend Kris Oyler, CEO and co-founder of the popular brewery and restaurant.

Kris wasn’t aware of the curious plaque.

“I had to go out and take a look,” he said.

Sure enough, there it was: Fire Dept. Conn.

In case you’re not good with a compass, the northeast corner of the building is where Steamworks keeps the peanuts. It also happens to be the corner where all of Steamworks’ water comes in.

So, that explains the sign. In reality, “Fire Dept. Conn.” means Fire Department Connection. Should a blaze break out, crews could hook into that pipe and provide additional water to battle a fire.

Without missing a beat, Kris pointed out the Durango Fire Protection District is always welcome to use the pipe specifically designated for the Fire Department of Connecticut.

“But we’ll keep the Fire Department of Connecticut on speed dial, just in case. Their response time would be slow, and they’d have to consume a lot of fuel driving cross country,” he quipped.

“Any fire would be out when they get here, but it’s good to know the Fire Department of Connecticut has a special pipe here,” he said.

I was at the Durango Transient Center – oops, I meant the Transit Center – and I noticed this sign. I’ve never seen the word “sprinklered” before. My computer’s spell-check underlines “sprinklered” and insists it’s supposed to be “sprinkler red.” What’s going on here? Should I just go with the flow? – Andy Ward

Action Line’s computer spell-check also dislikes the word “sprinklered.” But several dictionaries say it’s legit.

That was confirmed by Karola Hanks, Durango’s totally outstanding fire marshal.

“It’s a common industry term. It means that a building has an automatic fire sprinkler system,” she said.

She has a pet peeve about people’s perceptions of sprinklered buildings.

“It’s not like the movie ‘Die Hard,’ when Bruce Willis holds up a lighter to one sprinkler head, which then sets off every sprinkler in the building,” she said.

Each sprinkler has a “fusible link.” When temperatures exceed 155 degrees, the link melts, and water begins to spray – but only from that hot sprinkler.

Fusible links help limit water damage, but they make for boring cinema. So, Hollywood just makes stuff up. Kind of like Action Line but on a much bigger budget.

Anyway, Karola said it’s not a legal requirement to post a sign informing the public about fire-suppression infrastructure.

“But it’s nice to know,” she added.

One has to wonder why they used the word “sprinklered” instead of “sprinklerized.”

However, many linguists decry the use of “-ize” at the end of nouns. They call it “verbification.”

At Merriam-Webster, editors warn verbifiers thusly: “New words ending in -ize (finalize, prioritize) are sure to draw critical fire.”

So, if it draws fire, what better place than a sprinklerized building?

H H H

What the heck was Action Line smoking last week when he wrote about local activities for marijuana tourists?

The column stated the Downtown Welcome Center was a “joint project of the Business Improvement District, the Chamber of Commerce and Fort Lewis College.”

Our good friend Jack Llewelllyn, executive director of the chamber, pointed out the error. The chamber is not the entity involved with the center; it’s the Durango Area Tourism Office, a totally separate organization.

Palm to forehead. Sorry, Jack. Mea culpa.

Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if you can explain why rural folks find it necessary to burn fields (which aren’t sprinklered) every spring when it’s so dry and windy.



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