Week One Highlights! 

By: The NFSA ‘26 Interns: Jeremiah Allen, Wiley Hensley, Brooke Marshall, and Brookelynn Weinberg

Introductions: 

Hi! I am Brooke Marshall and I am an intern at NFSA for the summer! I am from Olney, Maryland, in Montgomery County. I am a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland, College Park, where I am studying Fire Protection Engineering. Some activities that I do on campus are club tennis and crochet club. I am involved in The First-Year Innovation & Research Experience and I am also a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the University of Maryland Student Chapter. Something that I am looking forward to is getting to travel to different manufacturing facilities and seeing their expertise in fire protection. I am very excited to be interning this summer! 

Hi! My name is Brookelynn Weinberg and I am so excited to be an intern at NFSA this summer! I am from Montgomery County, Maryland and I am a rising junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, studying Mechanical Engineering. At UMD, I am a manager for the Gymnastics Team, a member of Club Swimming, and I participated in the First-Year Innovation and Research Experience. I also enjoy competing in Triathlons! One thing I’m looking forward to this summer is gaining exposure to the Fire Protection Industry! 

Hello! My name is Jeremiah Allen, and I am one of the interns here at NFSA this summer. I am from Laurel, Maryland and I am a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland, studying Chemical Engineering. At UMD, I am in the Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams Honors Program under the Smith Business School and I a member of the Theta Theta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc at the university. I am also the membership chair for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at UMD. I am very excited to learn more about the industry. 

I’m Wiley Hensley, and this summer I am one of four interns at NFSA. I am a rising junior studying mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland’s Clark School of engineering and I’m from Silver Spring, MD. At UMD I am in the University Honors College and Engineers without borders, serving the partner community of St. Anne Grace Secondary School in Nakifuma, Uganda. I am also a member of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity. I am looking forward to becoming familiar with sprinkler layout and traveling to visit manufacturers.  

Week 1 

On our first day, Monday, June 8th, we started by getting a tour of the NFSA office. We saw a lot of sprinkler components around the office and learned about the history of fire sprinklers. We then learned about the systems in the office, got introduced to a lot of friendly faces, and started brainstorming ideas for our individual projects that we will work on later in the summer. We also received a presentation on NFPA 13 and the process that takes place between the 3-year print cycle so it can be updated. Lastly, we were educated about the tragic and preventable fires that took place at the Station Night Club and the Gabriel House in Fall River, MA. 

On our second day, we began our training for the Layout Technician Pathway: Application, a course that we will be taking later in July with Roland Asp at NFSA. In this virtual training we watched videos and took short quizzes about the basic components that comprise both sprinklers and sprinkler systems. We also learned about the different Codes and Standards that govern sprinkler system installation and maintenance, and the differences between dry and wet sprinkler systems. Finally, we completed most of our cybersecurity training by completing a few questionnaires and watching some videos, including the “Inside Man”, an apparent fan favorite in the office. 

On Wednesday, we took a trip down to Fairfax, Virginia for the CRFSA Developed for the Inspector Series! We had the opportunity to learn about the importance of hydraulic placards and General Information signs. Our time spent on Tuesday doing Layout Technician Training helped us understand some of the material talked about here, since this was only our third day! We then learned about inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM), codes and standards, and the importance of ITM in sprinkler systems. It was really cool to listen to people who were so passionate about Fire Protection. The last thing we learned was about NFPA 13, the parts of a dry and wet system, NFPA 25, and its role in ITM. This class was super helpful for us interns as we continue to gain knowledge about this industry.  

On Thursday we continued to work on our Layout Technician training. We also narrowed down topics for our individual design projects. Additionally, we researched Viking and UL in anticipation for our upcoming trip this Sunday. On Sunday our intern group is visiting Viking in Caledonia, Michigan. Over two days we will experience plant tours, fire test demonstrations, manufacturing, and specific sprinkler technologies at Viking. On the same trip, we will also visit UL for one day and receive a tour.  

Code of the Week! 

NFPA 13 (2025), 9.5.3.1.1 The maximum distance permitted between sprinklers shall be based on the centerline distance between adjacent sprinklers. 

Incorrect measurements can lead to gaps in coverage, which might allow a fire to grow unchecked until more sprinklers are activated, or the fire department arrives. Measuring centerline-to-centerline keeps layouts compliant and hydraulically sound.