No, but they will on a diesel engine fire pump with a tank of water to feed it.
Sure more expense, but makes it possible to have sprinklers without city water, or as backup if city water was considered unreliable or not enough flow.
There are sprinkler systems that don't need a diesel driven pump, but they are usually only used in residential applications with limited water supply. They use a pressurized tank to drive the water to the sprinklers. Chemical or gas fire suppression systems are also available, but would be expensive as well.
We're kind of Monday morning quarterbacking this, but if I were in his shoes with such a nice collection, I would have figured out some way to protect it or at least lessen the potential damage.
