Advanced Fire Protection for a High-Capacity Food Distribution Facility
Client: Cheney Brothers
General Contractor: AM King
Fire Protection Contractor: North American Fire Protection
Location: Florence, South Carolina
Facility Size: 386,000+ Square Feet
Building Height: 45 Feet
Project Overview
When Cheney Brothers selected Florence, South Carolina, for its first distribution center in the state, the company wasn't simply constructing another warehouse. The facility was designed to become a major foodservice distribution hub supporting customers across the Southeast while creating approximately 600 to 700 new jobs for the region.
The 386,000+ square-foot facility combines high-bay warehouse storage, freezer and cold dock operations, office space and mission-critical technology infrastructure under one roof. Each occupancy presents unique fire protection challenges requiring specialized suppression strategies that must operate together as one integrated system.
North American Fire Protection’s design-build team partnered with the project team to engineer and install a comprehensive distribution center fire protection solution designed specifically for the demands of modern food distribution, cold storage and high-piled warehouse operations.
The result is a full engineered 45-foot storage ESFR system built around the facility’s mixed hazard profile, one of the clearest examples of NAFPCO’s design-build approach to large-format distribution centers.
The Challenge
Food distribution facilities are among the most complex buildings to protect.
This project required fire protection systems capable of safeguarding:
Each environment presented different hazard classifications, temperature conditions and operational requirements. The challenge was designing one coordinated fire protection system that would provide reliable performance across the entire facility while supporting long-term business continuity.
North American’s Solution
North American Fire Protection delivered a complete distribution center fire protection system, design-built engineered around the building's varying hazards and operational demands.
Rather than treating each occupancy as a separate project, our team developed one coordinated strategy that combines multiple suppression technologies into a single, reliable fire protection solution.
The completed system included:
The result is a fire protection system engineered to protect people, inventory, operations and business continuity for decades of service.
Value Delivered
North American Fire Protection delivered more than a code-compliant sprinkler system. We provided a complete fire protection solution designed around the owner's operational goals and the contractor's construction schedule.
Project value included:
Scope of Services
North American Fire Protection provided complete turnkey fire protection services, including:
Why This Project Matters
Modern distribution centers demand more than standard warehouse fire protection.
High-piled storage, freezer environments, refrigerated loading docks and mission-critical operations each require different fire protection strategies. Successfully protecting these facilities requires specialized engineering, careful coordination, design-build delivery and experience with complex industrial construction.
The Cheney Brothers distribution center demonstrates North American Fire Protection's expertise in delivering fire protection solutions for food distribution facilities, cold storage warehouses and industrial logistics centers where reliability, performance and long-term operational continuity are critical.
About Cheney Brothers
Founded in 1925, Cheney Brothers is one of the nation's leading broadline foodservice distributors, serving restaurants, hospitality, healthcare, education and institutional customers throughout the Southeast.
Its Florence distribution center represents a significant investment in the company's continued growth, expanding regional distribution capacity while creating approximately 600 to 700 new jobs. The facility also includes advanced logisticscapabilities and a culinary innovation center supporting customer engagement and workforce development.
Project Impact:
Built to Protect
From food distribution facilities and cold storage warehouses to food processing plants and industrial manufacturing operations, North American Fire Protection designs and installs fire protection systems engineered for complex environments where performance, reliability and business continuity matter.
Whether your project involves ESFR fire sprinklers, preaction systems, clean agent suppression or complete fire protection design-build services, our team delivers solutions built around your facility, your schedule and your long-term operational success.
Dry pendent sprinklers are typically installed in food process plants and box-in-box freezers where temperatures are below 40 degrees F.
Dry pipe sprinkler systems are generally used in cold climates and are highly effective in cold-temperature fire protection.
Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) systems are quick-responding, high-volume sprinkler systems that provide exceptional protection for high-piled storage occupancies.
Fire pumps are an essential part of many water-based fire protection systems. Fire Pumps are used to increase the water pressure (measured in psi) when the original water source is not adequate for the system it’s supplying.
Fire pumps are an essential part of many water-based fire protection systems. Fire Pumps are used to increase the water pressure (measured in psi) when the original water source is not adequate for the system it’s supplying.
Pre-action fire sprinkler systems employ the basic concept of a dry pipe system in that water is not normally contained within the pipes.
Wet pipe systems are the most common fire sprinkler systems. A wet pipe system is one in which water is constantly maintained within the sprinkler piping.
A special hazards fire suppression system is used to put out fires in areas where water damage from fire sprinklers can cause costly or irreparable damage to the assets being protected.
Linear Heat Detection (LHD) is an important component of fire protection systems, as it is designed to detect heat along the length of a sensor cable.
