Homeowners’ most common concerns about fire sprinkler systems such as accidental discharge, water damage, and activation as a result of kitchen cooking are unfounded.  The National Fire Protection Association’s records indicate the probability of a sprinkler discharging accidentally due to a manufacturing defect is one in 16 million. And, in a typical home, water damage will be considerably less from unwanted sprinkler discharges than from plumbing mishaps. Lastly, smoke resulting from burned toast or other food preparations cannot cause a sprinkler to operate. Only the high temperatures that result from a fire will activate the sprinkler. Even then, all the sprinklers will not activate at the same time. They work independently. Only the sprinkler closest to the fire activates and, 90% of the time, one sprinkler contains the fire.

Sprinklers are installed by specially trained and certified contractors. The best time to install a system is when you are building a new or remodeling an existing home. Installing sprinklers can add about 1% – 1.5% to the total cost of construction. Retrofitting an existing home with sprinklers generally costs more and the cost varies depending on the structure in which they are installed. Many insurance companies offer a range of discounts for homeowners with home fire sprinkler systems.

So if you will be building a new home or embarking on a renovation or remodel in the future, consider installing sprinklers in part or all of your home.

For more information on a home fire sprinkler system, please visit the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition at www.homefiresprinkler.org.

Article Credits: Fire Marshal Alan Perkins, CFPS, is a 32-year veteran of the fire service. A Certified Fire Protection Specialist through the National Fire Protection Association and a member of several similar safety organizations. Perkins is the Fire Marshal for the Washington Township Fire Department, Dublin, Ohio. For more information, contact: Leslie Dybiec, Public Information Officer Phone: (614) 652-3928 Fax: (614) 766-2507 or ldybiec@wtwp.com

Live Safe Foundation is an Ohio based non-profit organization (501c3), and leading grassroots movement, devoted to making and fire and life safety education, awareness initiatives and life saving tools available on a broad basis to communities, campuses, and institutions in an effort to reduce national fire fatalities and fire losses. Live Safe aims to help finance fire safety education where means are otherwise unavailable. Live Safe is developing and sponsoring programs to help groups find the resources needed to advance individual and community fire safety.

This Sunday, February 14, 2010, ABC’s Extreme Makeover-Home Edition will feature a two-hour Valentine’s Makeover from 8:00-10:00pm featuring the installation of a fully sprinklered home and more!  Ty Pennington takes his team to Prince George’s County, Maryland where he’s going to help the Tripp family. Over the years they have helped the kids in the local community by running a bus service and offering activities, which they supervise to make sure they are kept safe in what is generally a rough area. Maryland based Livingston Fire Protection, fully sprinklered two properties, donating over three weeks of design, more than 500 hours of field installation, fabrication and trucking time, as well as many hours of dedicated employee’s time.

Recent Studies prove that sprinklers protect the environment.  According to the research and reports from a study performed in a collaborative effort of FM Global and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition they identified the following points:

“At a January 19, 2010 press conference at the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas,  Christopher Wieczorek, PhD, a senior research specialist at FM Global, showed side-by-video of the rooms burning. Forty-four seconds after ignition, the single sprinkler head in the protected living room activated and began to fight the fire, while fire raged in the unprotected room. After five minutes, the fire in the sprinklered room continued to be contained, while in the unprotected room, every combustible item was burning.

After the test, FM Global compared the environmental impact of each fire, specifically:

• the types, quantity and duration of air and water pollutants released from a home fire
• water usage from fire sprinklers and firefighters’ hoses
• the environmental impact resulting from burning household furnishings and finish materials as well as disposing the fire-damaged contents of a home
• the carbon footprint associated with rebuilding a burnt home

Announcing the initial findings of the study, Dr. Wieczorek said that in the event of a home fire where sprinklers are present:

• the release of greenhouse gases (CO2) are reduced by 99%
• the amount of water usage is reduced by 50%
• the amount of fire damage to the room is less than 3%, compared to a 100% loss in the unprotected room

Dr. Wieczorek added that the amount of materials burned by the fire that had to go into a landfill, and the amount of raw materials needed to rebuild after a fire were also reduced.”

NFPA, who is committed to the Fire sprinkler Initiative,  is doing all they can to bring a higher level of safety to our homes. According to their studies:

• Roughly 84% of all civilian fire deaths in 2007 resulted from home structure fires.
• If you have a reported fire in your home, the risk of dying decreases by about 80% when sprinklers are present.

Sprinkler advocates across the country have asked for a coordinated effort to encourage the use of home fire sprinklers. NFPA has launched that effort through the “Fire Sprinkler Initiative®: Bringing Safety Home.” The initiative includes a variety of proven, effective ways that home fire sprinkler advocates can communicate the impact of sprinklers.

This Web site provides resources for the fire service and other sprinkler advocates who want to demonstrate the need for home fire sprinklers in their community. Tools and field resources available in the website help advocates talk with local elected officials and others about the life-saving impact of sprinklers.

In addition, the site contains information to help home fire sprinkler advocates navigate the legislative process to get sprinkler ordinances introduced and passed in their communities and allow them to come together to share their ideas, successes, and tools with other advocates across the country.

The Fire Sprinkler Initiative, in cooperation with many other interested individuals and organizations, encourages the use of home fire sprinklers through increased awareness and adoption of local ordinances or model codes.

For more information, please visit www.firesprinklerinitiative.org or www.nfpa.org for more information.

LiveSafe Foundation is an Ohio based non-profit organization (501c3), and leading grassroots movement, devoted to making fire safety education, awareness initiatives and life saving tools available on a broad basis to communities, campuses, and institutions in an effort to reduce national fire fatalities and fire losses. LiveSafe aims to help finance fire safety education where means are otherwise unavailable. LiveSafe is developing and sponsoring programs to help groups find the resources needed to advance individual and community fire safety.