What makes fire sprinklers so effective

A fire starts when intense heat is concentrated in an area with plenty of oxygen and fuel. To survive, fires need to eat, breathe, and stay hot. A spark from an overloaded power strip, an unattended candle, or flammable materials left too close to a radiator are all common sources of fire in the home.

Fires can't live without fuel, air, and heat. To put out a fire, you need to remove one of those three things. Here's how it works:

• The fuel. If it runs out of fuel, a fire will extinguish on its own. Firefighters sometimes clear a ring around brush fires to keep them controlled.
• The air. Fires can also be contained if they're smothered quickly enough. That's why you can put out a small fire by dropping a blanket over it and stamping it out.
• The heat. Fire can't burn if it gets too cold. Water puts out fire by dropping its core temperature below a certain amount. 

Fire sprinklers work by removing a fire's heat. Fire sprinklers drop water at the core of the fire, extinguishing it before it can burn out of control. And because they work so quickly, the fire is usually controlled before it can do significant damage.
That's why fire sprinklers are the most effective method of fire prevention you can buy.