Public safety experts are in agreement that automatic
fire sprinkler systems afford a high level of protection in
every type of occupancy. Available data likely fails to capture
the actual breadth of protection that sprinklers provide, due
to coding differences that affect national fire sprinkler statistics.
The National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) conservatively estimates that when sprinklers are present,
the risk of dying in a fire and the average property loss are
cut by one-half to three-fourths, compared to structures without
sprinklers.
“A
home fire sprinkler system is like placing the first hose
line in operation
without the risk to firefighters.”
- Pleasant Valley, TN Fire Chief Shane Ray
The organization says that if unreported fires
and other information could be included the national sprinkler
effectiveness data would be even more impressive.
Although no current data specifically documenting a reduction
in on-scene firefighter injuries and fatalities yet exist(s),
NFPA’s Dr. John R. Hall Jr. says a logical argument can
be made along these lines. “Sprinklers keep fires smaller.
That means that firefighters face a much smaller, more manageable,
less dangerous task when they roll up to a fire in a sprinklered
property. Less severe conditions should mean fewer injuries.”
Hall
is NFPA assistant vice president, fire analysis and research.
According to NFPA, 105 firefighters died in the line of duty
in 2003. Of the deaths that occurred on the fire ground, the
largest proportion occurred in residential structures (and most
of those were in one- and two-family dwellings).
