The Fire Extinguisher

Fire: a destructive force that leaves behind a trail of ashes and smoldering ruins in a matter of seconds, and also endangers the lives of individuals caught up in its advance. In the face of the potential experience with this disaster, the ingenuity of Thoman J, Martin sought to update the earlier model of the fire extinguisher and created the fire extinguisher sprinkler system. 

Born in 1842, Martin spent his early years on a farm in Shelby County, Alabama. After his service in the Civil War, he returned to his childhood state to begin a mercantile business in 1866 that continued with success until 1897. During his mercantile business, he invented a system where water could pump through a series of pipes in buildings that led to individual spinnaker heads. This contraption linked stored water from reservoirs to the pipes used to sprinkle spray water to burning surfaces and operated manually by turning a valve in the system’s building

In 1872, the US Patent Office awarded Martin a patent for his version of the fire extinguisher. His legacy lives on as his invention still stands in operation in buildings across the US since its implementation in 1874.  During a decade characterized by the innovation of the telephone and the phonograph, the state of the factories during the industrial age resulted in unsafe working conditions. These conditions included the lack of fire safety measures and crowded working areas. By implementing Martin’s system, large factories could extinguish industrial fires that would limit destruction and loss of lives. Now in modern times, the US requires sprinkler systems within buildings taller than 75 feet.

“Martin’s impactful engineering is heavily integrated into the community as it’s used in almost every building and his legacy lives on by providing safety to the United States. This [origin of the invention] is something I didn’t know about so I’m sure many integral inventions that we use everyday that are by black figures aren’t recognized and this month we should try to recognize them,” magnet senior Malia Everett said.