Home Fire Sprinklers can Dramatically Reduce Heat, Flames, and Smoke

2/11/2019 (Permalink)

When properly installed and maintained, fire sprinklers help save lives.

Fire sprinklers have been around for more than a century, protecting commercial and industrial properties and public buildings. What many people don't realize is that the same life-saving technology is also available for homes, where roughly 80 percent of all civilian fire deaths occur.

The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Sprinkler Initiative outlines proven, effective ways that home fire sprinkler advocates can communicate the impact of sprinklers to their decision makers. NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative highlights key research underscoring how fire sprinklers can reduce the risk of death or injury from fire. According to NFPA's "U.S. Experience with Sprinklers" report: 

• the civilian death rate was 81 percent lower in homes with fire sprinklers than in homes without them
• the average firefighter injury rate was nearly 80 percent lower when fire sprinklers were present during fires
• when sprinklers were present, fires were kept to the room of origin 97 percent of the time
• the home fire death rate was 90 percent lower when fire sprinklers and hardwired smoke alarms were present. By comparison, this death rate is only 18 percent lower when battery-powered smoke alarms are present but automatic extinguishing systems weren't