while he was trying to find words adequate to the situation , the sprinkler system operated , deluging everything with a chilly spray , extinguishing the flames almost instantly , but unfortunately also automatically turning out the fire brigade so that when the first of five appliances arrived on the site it was to find four very wet men , three of them streaked with white , all apparently suffering from some kind of convulsions , sitting beside a heap of soggy , steaming and half burned plastic in the yard .