Meaning & use
fire riser
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A vertical pipe in a building that supplies water to hoses and sprinklers on the upper floors.
Grammar: Countable: a fire riser in each stairwell, two fire risers.
Patterns
- the fire riser in something
- connect something to the fire riser
The firefighters connected their hoses to the fire riser on the fourth floor.
Each stairwell has a fire riser painted bright red.
The inspector checked the pressure in the fire riser during the annual test.
Word forms
| plural | fire risers |
|---|
Common combinations
- dry fire riser
- A dry fire riser stays empty until firefighters pump water into it.
- wet fire riser
- A wet fire riser is always full of water.
- test the fire riser
- The caretaker must test the fire riser every year.
- fire riser room
- The valves are kept in the fire riser room.
- connect to the fire riser
- Crews connected to the fire riser at street level.
Synonyms and how they differ
- standpipe
- A standpipe is a closely related vertical pipe for firefighting water, and the term is common in the US, while fire riser also covers sprinkler supply risers.
- riser
- Riser alone is broader and could be any vertical pipe or duct, while fire riser clearly means the fire-safety one.
- water main
- A water main is the large underground supply pipe in the street, not the vertical pipe inside a building.
Word family
- riser noun
- a vertical pipe or cable run in a building
- sprinkler noun
- a device that sprays water to put out fire
- fire hydrant noun
- a street outlet for firefighting water
- fire safety noun
- measures to prevent and fight fires
Commonly confused: fire riser or fire hydrant?
fire riser vs fire hydrant
A fire hydrant is an outlet on the street. A fire riser is the pipe inside a building that carries water upward.
Practice
Firefighters in a tall building connect their hoses to the ______ to get water on the upper floors.
Choose one answer.
A fire riser is the vertical water pipe that supplies hoses on upper floors. A fire escape is an exit route, a fire door slows flames, and a fire alarm only warns people.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fire riser”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.