NFPA's Fire Sprinkler Initiative

Krout Family Equips Their Rebuilt Home With Fire Sprinklers

The Mountain Top Eagle reports that Capt. Krout of the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department, Pennsylvania, is rebuilding his home lost to fire last year; this time it will be equipped with fire sprinklers.

While the family was out of town on Black Friday last year their home was felled by fire. When they were planning to rebuild their home, they made a decision to install fire sprinklers.

Capt. Krout submitted the plans to a contractor and received a bid of $1.00 sq. ft. He explains that this cost was significantly lower than the quote he received for his kitchen countertop. 

The Krout family knows first hand the impact of fire and made a wise decision to equip their new home with this life safety and property conservation technology. 

The article helps to dispel several myths perpetuated by the PBA about fire sprinkler systems in new home construction. Click here to read the full article

Maria Figueroa

Receive a free Fire Protection Handbook on CD when you register for NFPA's Fire & Life Safety Conference in Orlando

Fifty education sessions in four tracks, speakers who work directly with NFPA codes, dynamic luncheon speakers, compelling post-conference seminars, and a few days in sunny Orlando. What more could you ask for, right? Well, we're sweetening the pot a little bit more.

Register today and you'll receive a free copy of NFPA's 20th edition Fire Protection Handbook® on CD - a $245 value! All registered attendees for this event will be able to pick up their CD at the conference registration desk at the Hilton in the Walt Disney World® Resort.

Conference sessions at our Fire & Life Safety Conference will be taught by NFPA staff and technical committee members who work directly with the codes. With four comprehensive tracks -- Building & Life Safety, Codes & Standards, Fire Suppression, and Detection & Alarm -- you can increase your understanding of the latest codes that relate to you. You'll also get unique and in-depth perspectives from our dynamic keynote luncheon speakers on emerging industry topics.

We're also offering a 2-day post-conference seminar (Dec. 16-17) focused on sprinkler hydraulics, and a 1-day seminar (Dec. 16) on fire protection concepts and analysis for property loss prevention.

So what's the Fire Protection Handbook all about? Pop this CD into your computer and you'll gain instant access to authoritative data on every aspect of fire protection: 3,500 pages of vital information written by 254 leading experts. It's all here: tables, graphs, illustrations, the latest research and proven strategies, plus 25 first-time chapters on timely topics such as premises security, protecting against extreme events, flammability hazard of materials, and strategies for occupant evacuation during emergencies.

So don't delay - register for the Orlando conference today and you'll soon have the power of NFPA's Fire Protection Handbook in your corner.

- Mike Hazell

Bill postponing home fire sprinkler requirement in Pennsylvania dies in the House

Amended HB1196 which would postpone the one- and two-family fire sprinkler requirement in all new construction for one year was not moved forward for a vote in the House; thus  the requirement will become effective January 1, 2011.

The PA Department of Labor and Industry adopted the 2009 IRC including the fire sprinkler requirement in one- and two-family homes and townhomes. Requirements for townhomes became effective January 1, 2010; one- and two-family home requirements become effective on January 1, 2011.

The Pennsylvania Home Builders (PBA) filed an injunction which failed to delay the implementation of the requirement. Consequently, they sued to keep the requirement out of the code. This past June the court ruled against the builders, calling their arguments “disingenuous.”

When the PBA exhausted the above channels, they turned to the legislature in an attempt to postpone the requirement for one year, with the goal of doing away with it entirely. HB 1196 as amended by the Senate would have achieved this. On November 15th, the House came back for a one day “lame duck” session and failed to take action on the bill. This means that new homes built or permitted in PA after January 1, 2011 will require home fire sprinkler systems.

Tim Knisely, co-chair of the PA Fire Sprinkler Coalition stated; "after a long two year battle we are relieved to be in this position and look forward to working with the builders in 2011…we have been building townhomes with sprinklers in Pennsylvania for all of 2010 without any significant issues."

Tim explains that the coalition will continue to monitor any activities out of Harrisburg, “but it seems that this issue is finished for this year.”  He posits that they do anticipate a challenge by the PBA and the NAHB in 2011.

A consumer alert added to the PBA website encourages everyone to "build now" before the requirement goes into effect; using it as a marketing tool for selling new homes in a distressed market. The PBA also continues to use inflated installation costs and downplays the life safety benefits of home fire sprinklers. The PBA claims that the requirement will  impact housing cost and affordability and will negatively impact the economy, a fallacy that has been disproven in an NFPA study. 

PBA President Joseph Mackey states; “we will be back for the new session in January with permanent residential sprinkler relief legislation”, affirming the concern of PA home fire sprinkler advocates. This illustrates that field advocates must remain vigilant in their own communities where the opposition is continually working to prevent requirements from being implemented or to roll back successes.

 Maria Figueroa

 

Texas Municipal League issues resolution in support of sprinklers

The Texas Municipal League has issued a resolution seeking repeal of the law passed by the Texas legislation last year which prohibits a city form enacting an ordinance or building code requiring the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems in one- or two-family dwellings. The resolution was passed and approved on October 29th by the membership assembled at its 2010 Annual Conference.

The resolution recognizes that residential fire sprinklers have a proven history of saving lives and make conditions safer for firefighters. It supports legislation that would repeal or provide beneficial amendments, relating to local control of residential fire sprinklers, to Section 1301.551(e) of the Texas Occupations Code.

Click here to read the resolution

Maria Figueroa

Las Vegas firefighters show how sprinklers make a difference

 
As reported by Paul Takahashi in the Las Vegas Sun

It was a tale of two seemingly identical rooms. Both were 8-feet by 8-feet rooms, built with drywall and plywood. Both were furnished with identical beds, nightstands, tables, lamps and drapes. They both had similar phone books and pieces of artwork hanging on the white painted walls.

But when Las Vegas Fire and Rescue personnel set fire to the drapes in both rooms, the difference between them became as clear as night and day: sprinklers.

“It’s a no-brainer,” said Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, who attended Friday morning’s fire demonstration at the Las Vegas Fire Training Academy, 633 N. Mojave Road. “You can see the comparable damage and the lifesaving aspect of these sprinklers.”

Within three minutes, the unprotected room was engulfed in flames, its searing heat emanating through to the crowd of about 50 observers gathered only a few dozen feet away. When firefighters “arrived” at the scene a minute later, it was too late.

Everything in the room was charred black with damage estimated to be about $50,000.

Read the entire article in the Las Vegas Sun.

- Mike Hazell

Research that provides a foundation for the use of home fire sprinklers

Over the past year and a half, the Fire Protection Research Foundation has conducted four research projects designed to provide data to support the installation of sprinklers in new single-family homes. The projects are varied and funded by different groups, but they share the Foundation’s research process, including a strong tie to users. These projects, together with studies conducted by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition and others, provide a solid foundation for the continued and widespread installation of home fire sprinklers. The projects focus on:

• home fire sprinkler incentives
• spacing requirements for sprinklers on sloped ceilings
• residential water meters and home fire sprinklers
• antifreeze in home fire sprinkler systems

Read Kathleen Almand's latest column in NFPA Journal for more information and a link to each of these reports.

NFPA's Chris Dubay explains the ban on residential use of antifreeze solutions in sprinkler systems

In the new issue of NFPA Journal®, Chris Dubay, NFPA's Vice President of Codes and Standards and Chief Engineer, talks about the process that led to the Association prohibiting the residential use of antifreeze in sprinkler systems.

"When reviewing the issues surrounding antifreeze solutions and automatic fire sprinkler systems, two points should be made immediately," said Chris. "First, 80 percent of fire fatalities occur in the home, and when home fire sprinklers are present, the risk of dying in a home fire decreases by 80 percent. NFPA strongly supports and urges the expanded use of residential fire sprinkler systems as the most effective way to prevent fire injuries and deaths in the home and other residential occupancies. Second, where existing fire sprinkler systems utilize antifreeze solutions, in no case should these systems be disconnected."

Read the entire article and listen to audio clips from Journals' interview with Chris.

- Mike Hazell

Common Voices Releases New PSA's in Support of Home Fire Sprinklers

Common Voices, an advocates’ coalition determined to create a Fire Safe America, released a series of six new Public Service Announcements (PSA) that tell the stories of women who have lost family members in fires and explain the need for fire sprinklers in homes. Each PSA has a personal message from Common Voices advocates. Here are a few of their stories.

Bonnie Woodruff tells the story of her son bringing home a turtle when he was a child. She tells viewers that the turtle is still alive while her son is not. He died in a fraternity house fire on Mother’s Day. She describes it as a senseless death that could have been prevented with fire sprinklers. Woodruff highlights her current efforts as an advocate challenging those who work to defeat code requirements that include fire sprinklers.

 

Justina Page, who lost her son in a house fire and who is a burn survivor shows her emotion as she gazes out a window, watching neighborhood children playing and discussing how she will never again be able to see her son play outside. Her direct plea to the viewer to install fire sprinklers and her genuine account of “if I had only known…” makes the issue and solution obvious and simple.

 

Amy Acton, executive director of The Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, reminds viewers that fire does not discriminate.  “It happens to the rich, it happens to the poor, it could happen to you,” she says. Acton who is also a burn survivor, notes that many times we focus only on those who die, forgetting the impact to society and to the survivors themselves. Burn injuries occur every 57 minutes, and are a significant part of our nation’s fire problem.

The complete media kit, which is free thanks to the Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Act fire prevention grant, is available by visiting www.fireadvocates.org

Lorraine Carli

Faces of Fire Campaign Launch Features Live Demonstration

NFPA's Fire Sprinkler Initiative held a live side by side burn demonstration in Weymouth, Massachusetts last week as part of the launch of its new campaign -- Faces of Fire. Funded with a grant from FEMA, Faces of Fire is another tool for advocates working to get sprinkler requirements in every state in the country. It features the stories of individuals impacted by fire -- some are fire victims, members of the fire service who have responded to home fires and those whose homes and lives have been saved by sprinklers. The live demonstration is one of the best education tools available to allow people to see firsthand both the devastating and fast moving effect of fire as well as the quick, life-saving response of sprinklers.

Lorraine Carli

Residential Design + Build – Fire Sprinklers: Codes, Costs and Construction Issues

The October edition of Residential Design and Build magazine includes a comprehensive featured article on residential fire sprinklers, written by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition's (HFSC) Erik Hoffer. The article provides answers to the question: What does the International Code Council’s new residential fire sprinkler requirement mean for the future of home building, and how can home builders benefit from it?

The design and build industry is a major stakeholder in the home fire sprinkler initiative. It is highly important to reach out to them with objective information. The fact is that many builders around the country have been building and selling homes with fire sprinkler systems installed. The article features home builders Bill and Janet Hall of Pleasant View, Tennessee, who according to the article, “…originally thought fire sprinklers were too expensive for the types of homes they build… they found that sprinklers actually added more value to the homes and helped the client’s insurance prices.”

The HFSC has been reaching out to the homebuilding industry with education. The building professional home page provides information on the value of residential fire sprinklers in new homes.

Erik did a great job on this article. We look forward to more of these in the future. Way to go Erik!

 Maria Figueroa