NFPA's Fire Sprinkler Initiative

Extreme Makeover:Home Edition - The Montgomery Family in Philo, IL

Incredible effort, serendipity, and a "teachable moment" made possible the inclusion of an NFPA 13D system in the rebuilding of a home for the popular TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Tom Harnsberger, Director of the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts used all of the above to accomplish, what at first appeared to be, the nearly impossible.

The home had been chosen by the TV show and Brady Homes, of Bloomington, IL was selected as the local building sponsor to donate the labor and resources. One of the owners of the company is IL Senator Bill Brady. Senator Brady had previously introduced legislation to keep communities from adopting the home fire sprinkler requirement. Tom Harnsberger knew it would not be easy to convince this builder to include a fire sprinkler in this home. But there was something else now driving his efforts; he found out the family chosen for the extreme makeover was his own daughter's house. He became more determined than ever to make it happen.

The old house before it was demolished

Tom was having dinner at a tavern in Philo two nights before the project was supposed to start. Senator Brady also happened to be there having dinner. After a few looks across the table Tom approached the Senator. At this chance meeting he told Tom that they had decided not to include the fire sprinkler in the project. Tom didn't give up and wanted to know why. Senator Brady was concerned about the inspection and maintenance, and other ongoing costs for the homeowner. This became Tom's "teachable moment." He explained the simple inspection and maintenance requirements of an NFPA 13D system and other concerns that the senator had mentioned; including the cost of design and installation. Tom quoted the $1.50 average cost to include a system in IL and promised him that it would not delay the project. Before walking out that night, he had gained approval for the system.

The fire sprinkler design and installation team went to work and the project became a reality through hard work and dedication. Look closely at the picture below to view the lightweight construction that is now protected by a sprinkler system

  
Sprinkler fitters hard a work

Sami Aziz, Field Producer for the show had this to say; "I spent the day, roughly 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. with the fire sprinkler crew.  They actually started about 4 pm and finished about 10pm.  Additional time was necessary to track down a particular fitting and for the glue to dry. Impressive 6 hours." He had this to say about the house;  "Now it has a residential fire sprinkler system that is cutting edge fire safety for the family."

 
A happy Addy Montgomery (Tom's grandaughter) smiles for the camera after the house is completed

From Senator Brady's website: "Throughout his life, Senator Bill Brady has worked to make a difference in the lives of Illinois families, whether it was building affordable quality homes for them or working in his community and the General Assembly to give them a better quality of life and a brighter future." By approving and participating in this project Senator Brady has demonstrated his commitment to all of the above. Thank you.

Thank you also to Tom, Peg Paul of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, Tom Lia of the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, and the rest of the people in the team who made this possible. One more family is safe in America today due to your commitment to life safety.

 
Tom Harnsberger with the new home visible in the background

The show aired on October 25th and may be viewed here: http://abc.go.com/watch/extreme-makeover-home-edition/92244/239472/montgomery-family

Maria Figueroa

News report: Firefighters fight sprinkler battle in South Carolina

According to a report on WYFF-4 in Greenville, SC, firefighters are leading the charge to get sprinklers required in every new 1- and 2-family home in the state.

“It is there 24/7 on the scene already. It will control a fire setting and give you an opportunity to get out of that house,” Chief Phill Jolley of the Pelham-Batesville Fire Department, told the station.

The International Codes Council passed the new home requirement with a start date of January, 2011. The South Carolina Building Codes Council still needs to approve it. Residential sprinklers have been required in the following NFPA codes since the 2006 editions: NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code®; NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®; and NFPA 5000®, Building Construction and Safety Code®.

Home builders argue that the cost to them and home buyers is too great. Firefighters said that's a misconception. “The average home we are talking $2,000 to $3,000. Most people in new homes these days spend more on granite counter tops,” Jolley said.

Sixty-four people have died in house fires this year in South Carolina, according to the state fire marshal.

- Mike Hazell

Raising the bar on community awareness:Side-by-side demonstrations

Side-by-side demonstrations are having a great impact raising community awareness. After a recent demonstration, a young mother was heard saying, "these should be required by law." That is exactly the response that these demonstration are supposed to elicit. They show us that they are effective in increasing the public's knowledge about the role that fire sprinklers play protecting families in their homes.

In this post I will share with you how fire sprinkler advocates are "stepping up to the plate" in one community to raise awareness, getting lots of media attention. Way to go!

This example comes to us from Mooresville, N.C. Their demonstration drew substantial news coverage as you can view on this link: http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11352705 They did an excellent job educating the media for this demonstration. As a result, they were able to reach a great number of people.

This dramatic live fire demonstration delivers the best return on investment to raise community awareness. As we gear up and forge ahead after the victory in Baltimore, raising community awareness and getting those moms on our side will go a long way in winning "where the rubber meets the road," to paraphrase a sprinkler advocate.

Visit the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition website to request your side-by-side kit today and become a "Built for Life" fire department.

 

NFPA commends International Code Council sprinkler vote

Calling it a critical step toward reducing deaths and destruction caused by home fires, President James M. Shannon applauded the recent vote by the International Code Council (ICC) to retain the code provision in the next edition of the International Residential Code (IRC) that all new one- and two-family homes to be equipped with home fire sprinklers. The 2009 IRC included this provision for the first time. Proposals were then submitted to remove the requirement for the next edition and have now been voted down. NFPA supplied testimony for support of the provision at the hearing prior to the vote.

Read the NFPA news release.

Safe Home Alabama Project

A concentrated public awareness campaign to increase support for home fire sprinkler requirements is taking place in the State of Alabama. The catchy title of the project should sound very familiar and was aptly named with the song "Sweet Home Alabama" in mind.

Jerri Ayers, Public Education Specialist, Jefferson State Community College has written an article outlining the project. It is a model to be emulated. The following is an excerpt from an article written by Jerri:

In the past few years the fire service in Alabama has taken on the Home Fire Sprinkler Initiative. As Alabama State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk stepped into the issue of home fire sprinklers the Fire Chiefs Association of Alabama, Fire Marshal’s Association of Alabama and the Alabama Fire Sprinkler Association quickly joined him at the state capitol in Montgomery.  As the initiative began to grow throughout the state it wasn’t long before the Fire Marshals Association of Alabama along with the Alabama Fire & Life Safety Educators Association stepped up to the plate to bring the initiative to the front door of communities throughout the state with home fire sprinkler statistical information and facts being taught in educational workshops and at conference training tracts to firefighters across the state.

Realizing that there were still many questions and misconceptions among fire service personnel concerning home fire sprinklers the Safe Home Alabama Project was put into place to not only educate fire fighters with the statistical information but to dispel the myths surrounding the topic and assist the fire departments with understanding of the NFPA 13-D sprinkler systems. The class also includes constructing the side-by-side live fire demonstration units as well as how to use the units to educate local officials and the members of their communities about the advantages that home fire sprinklers can provide for home builders, insurance companies, realtors and most of all the citizens of the communities which they protect. 

At a time when many fire departments are experiencing cut backs and layoffs the Alabama Risk Watch Program of Jefferson State Community College teamed up with the Fire Marshals Association of Alabama to provide resources and training to get the facts about home fire sprinklers to local officials and community members as many local municipalities are beginning to update local fire codes. “Our goal is to empower our firefighters with the tools and resources needed for them to reach their public with the truth about the safety of what they value most…their families and homes” says Dallis Johnson, President of the Fire Marshal’s Association of Alabama and Assistant Chief of Prattville Fire Department.

At the recent Alabama Fire Chiefs Association/Fire Marshals Association of Alabama Summer Conference Safe Home Alabama hosted training with speakers from the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative, NFPA Education Division and Fire Team USA to “Bring Safety Home” to Alabama fire departments.  The end of the training included a local live burn demonstration hosted by Orange Beach Fire Department with assistance from Jeff State Community College, Prattville, Gulf Shores, and Foley Fire Departments. The event which drew over 100 attendees was a successful tool used to show fire chiefs and fire marshals just how powerful the live burn demonstration is as a public training tool to show the effectiveness of having fire sprinklers installed in homes in their communities.

Remarkably, just a few short days after the class and demonstration the city of Gulf Shores Alabama was the first to adopt the 2009 IRC as a complete document, a victory for not only Gulf Shores Fire Department but for all those who have contributed to the statewide effort to push for long overdue change but also a life saving benefit for all who reside and visit the beautiful coastal city of Gulf Shores, Alabama.

To date the Safe Home Alabama Project has trained 143 fire fighters from 33 fire departments which has resulted in 6 live fire burn demonstrations in Alabama and many more looming on the horizon. One home builder who recently attended a live fire burn demonstration with the intent of “seeing what you guys are up to” left after stating to fire service personnel the question: “What is it the homebuilders association is fighting… this is common sense”. 

I believe in a safer future for you and your families. For firefighters I believe that you deserve to be protected to the highest measure that those you work for hold the power to provide that protection for you and for your families I believe they should have confidence that you are coming home to them after each shift. For children, the elderly and the disabled I believe that it is our place to educate your communities that you are most at risk to die a preventable fire death.  For everyone reading this I believe that if you stand united in agreement that home fire sprinklers save lives that you can be a part of a safer future for generations to come and the US can give up the ranking of highest fire deaths per year for an industrialized nation. For me I believe in you and the power you hold given the correct and current information concerning issues that surround your profession.

Jerri Ayers
Public Education Specialist
Jeff State Community College
& most importantly - Mom of 2

The latest Safe Home Alabama demonstration was held at the to NASCAR races in Talledega last weekend in the parking lot of the Pell City Home Depot hosted by Lincoln and Pell City Fire Departments.

Thank you to Fire Marshal Ed Paulk  for his commitment to this life safety initiative. Hats off to the awesome trio of Jerri Ayers, Dallis Johnson, and Mike Brayman. Their passion for life safety is demonstrated in this incredible project. Thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of the people in the State of Alabama.

 
In the picture above Alabama State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk speaks to State Farm Insurance Employees at State Farm Corporate Office during live fire burn held by Homewood Fire Department

Maria Figueroa

Statistics 101

Fire sprinkler opponents have been using statistics from NFPA reports as arguments against home fire sprinklers. Every single time, these statistics are cited completely out of context. It is vital to be able to counter these arguments by having the right facts. The latest misused statistic comes from Table 5 on page 37 of the NFPA Sprinkler Report.  Marty Ahrens very eloquently clarifies it below and references the NFPA Home Structure Fires Report to explain it: 

 

Clarification on Table 5 in the sprinkler report.  

Apparently the builders are using it in a hand-out as a reason why sprinklers are not needed.  Table 5 shows  sprinkler performance by property use.  The first column in Table 5A shows that sprinklers operated and were effective in 43% of home fires, 39% of one- or two-family home fires, and  44% of apartment fires. 

 

The builders are emphasizing this while choosing to ignore the fact that the fire was too small to activate the system more than half of the reported fires (56% of home fires, 57% of fires in one-or two family homes and 55% of apartment fires.)  It is, in fact, a good thing that sprinklers do not operate in very small fires.   

 

Table 11 and page 17 of the text of the home fires report  show that 45% of the reported home fires had incident types indicating that they were confined or contained fires such as a cooking fire confined to the vessel of origin, a confined chimney or flue fire, a confined fuel burner or boiler fire, a trash, rubbish, or waste fire that did not spread to other contents or the structure, and confined compactor or incinerator fires.  In addition, another 16% of the fires had a structure fire incident type other than those just mentioned and had flame damage confined to the object of origin.  Only 23% of reported home fires spread beyond the room of origin, but 77% of the home fire deaths resulted from these fires. 

 

Table B of the sprinkler report shows that when sprinklers were present, flame damage was confined to the room of origin in 97% of the reported home fires.  Table 6A shows that when sprinklers operated, they were effective in 98% of the home fires and sprinklers operated and were effective in 97% of fires large enough to activate them.

 

Sprinklers are highly reliable and operate in fires only when they are needed.

 

It is imperative to be able to rebut the arguments and clarify them with good knowledge of data. I hope that the above clarification helps everyone. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions about any of the statistics contained in an NFPA report.

 

Maria Figueroa

ICC Votes to Keep Residential Fire Sprinklers Requirement in the IRC

 
It was a great day in Baltimore yesterday as a sea of residential fire sprinkler proponents gathered to support the position to leave the requirement in the IRC. The vote was soundly in support of the requirement; both from the committee and the floor.

 

The NAHB used NFPA's 99.45% survival rate statistic as the main reason why sprinklers should  be left out of the code. Our own Gary Keith, VP of Operations did an excellent job rebutting this argument by explaining why that statistic is being used out of context because it includes all fires, even very small fires. He followed it by comparing the similar survival rate in motor vehicle crashes and the need to have safety features in cars to avoid deaths.

The IAFC, the USFA, and other important organizations joined NFPA in providing testimony supporting home fire sprinkler requirements. It was important to have the support of Habitat for Humanity of Texas.

The discussion from the committee members, after the motion was made to reject the change, was overwhelmingly in support of fire sprinklers in the home. Committee member Hellen Kessler said that she worried about the aging of America and the number of elderly and disabled people who need this protection in their home. Committee member Donald LeBrun declared that it is important to represent their members and keep the requirement in the code. He followed it by saying that it will continue to be "a long uphill battle to fight and I encourage you to do it." Committee member Roger Robertson indicated they should "leave it in the code, and let it play out." After the committee voted 7-4 against the proposed change, the NAHB asked for a floor vote, and to quote a floor participant; "it went down hard." The floor vote overwhelmingly affirmed the committee's vote and loud cheers could be heard. The moderator ended with "that motion clearly fails."

It is now up to the policy makers in the states and communities to promulgate the requirement. We must work extremely hard and follow through to make sure that this is accomplished.

(Photo Courtesy of Dan Gengler)

Maria Figueroa

News report looks at "what went right" after sprinkler extinguishes fire at nursing home

A fire in a Missouri nursing home was contained to one room, thanks to the facility's sprinkler system.

According to a report on KY 3.com, a fire at Rocky Ridge Manor in Mansfield was sparked by an exhaust fan in a medication room. The facility's staff safely evacuated all 38 residents: some in beds, some in wheelchairs, some who needed assistance with their walkers, according to the report.

"The sprinkler system did activate and pretty well extinguished the fire before the fire department arrived," said Fire Chief Byron Clark, adding that fire damaged just one room, and that smoke damage was minimal.

This fire serves as a good reminder: are there people in your home who are at greater risk of fire because they cannot get out by themselves or would need extra time to escape: young children, older adults, or people with disabilities?

Consider this: while a person had approximately 17 minutes to escape a home fire before flashover in the 1970's, today that time is reduced to approximately 3 minutes. Long before the first fire suppression unit applies water to the fire, the atmostphere has most probably become untenable, and the chances of survivavility have significantly decreased.

Home fire sprinklers extinguish or slow the growth of fire, giving people more time to get out or be rescued.  If you have a reported fire in your home, the risk of dying decreases by about 80 percent when sprinklers are present. People in homes with sprinklers are also protected against significant property loss—sprinklers reduce the average property loss by 71% per fire.

Take a look at our interactive map of U.S. communities with home fire sprinkler requirements.

- Mike Hazell

Fire chief: Sprinklers would have made "a significant difference"

The fire chief of Thunderbolt, GA, says home fire sprinklers would have made "a significant difference" in a fire last Friday that heavily damaged a townhome and killed two family dogs.

According to a report on WSAV News 3, Chief Carl Smith says sprinklers “...would’ve stopped the fire wherever it started and contained it to the kitchen. The smoke damage would’ve been very minimal and the 2 dogs that perished would not have died. There’s no doubt about that,“ he Smith.

“I look at them like a seatbelt for a house. To where people are driving around, we do things like seatbelts and air bags now in cars. Sprinklers should be in every home,“ said Smith.

“Instead of putting sprinklers in your grass to make sure it stays green, put sprinklers in your home. I mean they will save your life, they save your belongings, they save your family,“ said Smith.

HOT NEWS! New Report on Home Fire Sprinklers and Water Supply Systems

Please read about the new report released today by NFPA. This new report dispels the "water issues" argument and is a must read. An excerpt from the NFPA press release follows:

New study shows ease of integrating home fire sprinklers with local water supply systems
No design issues or significant cost issues found

October 22, 2009 – Home fire sprinklers can be integrated with local water supply systems with ease according to a new study - Integration of Residential Sprinklers with Water Supply Systems(PDF, 842 KB)  - released today by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The study, conducted by Newport Partners of Maryland, looked at detailed information for 20 US communities with a residential sprinkler ordinance and concluded that water supply integration requirements have been put into place, and there are no examples of insurmountable problems or issues. Neither design problems nor significant added costs were found in the communities surveyed.

“This is another critical piece of substantiation against the myths that abound about home fire sprinklers,” said Jim Shannon, NFPA president. “It is simply not true that sprinklers cannot be integrated with public water supply or significantly adds to cost. What is true is that home fire sprinklers save lives and should be required in new construction of one- and two-family homes.”

Key findings from the report
While sprinklers are still a fairly recent development in all of these communities (average ordinance age is about 3 years), water supply integration requirements have been put into place, and there are no examples of insurmountable problems or issues. Neither design problems nor significant added costs were found in the communities surveyed. Findings included:

• Nearby communities, such as those in the same state, generally adopt consistent provisions on issues such as water metering requirements; making compliance more uniform and predictable.
• More unusual design requirements, such as dual water service lines or dual water meters, are rare and typically driven by a local issue which would not apply in most other areas
• In more than half of the communities, no cost impact resulted from sprinkler-induced changes to water meter size, the need for additional water meters, or changes to tap size. These communities also did not have higher monthly service fees from the water supplier for homes with sprinklers. (In those communities where one or more of these factors did add cost, the average added cost was about $400.)
• Administrative issues such as concerns about water shut-off and larger, less accurate meters are not viewed as significant issues. In those communities where system inspections are required, communities are adopting a variety of practical strategies.

Overall, water suppliers, building departments and fire service have developed practical approaches to accommodate both home fire sprinklers and the local water supply.

Study Background
In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 U.S. communities with a residential sprinkler ordinance to better understand how sprinklers are integrated with the local water supply systems, including any added costs related to meters or tap fees. Participants included local water providers, building departments and fire service staff. The interview questions were based on a literature review of fire sprinkler/water supply integration issues, and were conducted by phone after first screening a community to make sure it had an ordinance covering all new single-family construction that had been in effect subsequent to 1999. This research was conducted in Spring/Summer 2009.

This new tool in the arsenal is an important one as we continue to dispel the myths associated with the adoption of the one- and two-family home fire sprinkler requirement.

Maria Figueroa