The Fall River Fire Department is warning property owners to take a look at their sprinkler systems after four buildings were found to have recalled sprinklers that may not activate during a fire. The work comes just months after a deadly fire at an assisted living facility in the community. 

"The Gabriel House fire changed the way that all of us do our job in every aspect of the job. I would be lying if I said we don't look at things differently because of that," said Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon, adding later, "[The sprinkler recall issue] is something we are just discovering in the state of Massachusetts, but they could be everywhere really." 

Recalled sprinkler systems

Recently, a property owner came to the fire department believing he may have one of these recalled sprinkler systems from Central Sprinkler Company. The sprinklers were recalled in 2001. 

"Inside the sprinkler head there is an O-ring that will malfunction and not allow the sprinkler head to activate," said Mark Furtado, Fire Inspector for the Fall River Fire Department. 

Chief Bacon says 35 million of these sprinklers were produced from the 1970s to the 2000s. The company performed free replacements until August of 2007. 

"When we found four of the 30, I said not only are there more in Fall River, but there are way more in the state, nationwide, and worldwide," said Chief Bacon. 

The chief sent a letter to the State Fire Marshal for further investigation. He tells WBZ that fire departments like his don't have the manpower to check every building in town. 

"These are 35 million sprinkler heads that don't have serial numbers, that were produced, sent out to distributors, and then installed in buildings," said Chief Bacon, adding that these recalls aren't like a car recall with assigned VIN numbers. "Who knows how good their records were?" 

The city asked these locations to repair and replace the sprinkler heads within two weeks of discovery. The fire department says every location completed the work well before the deadline.