There’s no doubt about it; community fire sprinkler education can be tough. Even though the technology has been around for more than a century,applying the concept to homes is still relatively new. Add that to the fact that most people don’t believe they’ll ever experience a fire, and it’s clear that fire department public educators have a challenge on their hands.

When HFSC was established 10 years ago, it was to confront this very problem. “We built a program that was designed towork in partnership with the fire service,” explains Jim Dalton, who represents the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) on HFSC's Board. “The local fire department educator is the public’s first and arguably most important link to fire safety. By providing fire services with high quality educational materials that they can easily use in their own communities, HFSC is zeroing in on the challenge of communicating about the life safety technology. Best of all, we know that laser focus is really working.”

HFSC LAUNCHES NEW MATERIALS
HFSC has developed a wide array of educational tools and information over the years, most of which are also available online. This month, HFSC is unveiling its most comprehensive Public Education Kit yet. With its introduction of outreach materials targeted specifically at three new professions and expanded age groups, and with materials available on CD and DVD for portability and ease of use,HFSC expects the initial print run to move fast.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not a jurisdiction has a fire sprinkler ordinance; every community needs education about the availability of home fire sprinkler systems and the superior life safety function they serve,” says Jeff Feid, who represents State Farm Insurance on HFSC’s Board. “Whether with an outreach campaign, or simply by serving as a resource to a motivated builder or homebuyer, the local fire department can and should play a role. With HFSC’s free materials, there’s really no good reason not to offer sprinkler education.”

The new Kit contains a CD with customizable and printable materials to make it simple for fire safety educators to reach out to a range of audiences. Also packaged with the Kit is a DVD, with audio-visual tools that can enliven any fire safety presentation.

WHAT THE KIT CD OFFERS:
Community Sprinkler Education Planning

• HFSC has updated its 5-Step Planning Guide to help fire departments establish an effective local fire sprinkler education plan
• Tips for Improving Outreach to Varied Audiences – offers helpful guidance for effective presentation to young and middle school children, adult consumers, and homebuilders and related professions, including insurance and real estate - NEW!
• Overview of NFPA 13D

Public Education Presentation Tools
HFSC has stocked the CD with printable teaching aids for a range of audiences. Many of them can be customized.

• Interactive Games for Children - NEW!
  • HFSC is introducing Sprinkler Smarts – fun and impactful fire safety and sprinkler education games for children in Kindergarten through fifth grade
• Brochures in PDF
  • Built for Life – for developers, homebuilders, local decision-makers •Marketing Homes Protected by Fire Sprinkler Systems – for real estate professionals - NEW!
  • What You Need to Know about Insuring a Home with Fire Sprinklers – for home insurance professionals - NEW!
  • Protect What You Value Most – for adult consumers
  • The Future of Fire Safety Here Today – for adult consumers
  • Living with Sprinklers – for adults living in sprinklered homes
    • Includes a hangtag for the home’s riser
• Quizzes for children, adults and community professionals
• A chart that depicts how flashover occurs
• HFSC PowerPoint® Presentation
• Animated features in Flash download format
  • Home Fire Timeline
  • Water Flow:Fire sprinkler vs.fire hose
  • Fire Sprinkler System:How fire sprinklers work
• Sprinkler FAQs

Public Relations Materials – Everything you need to incorporate positive home fire sprinkler messages into your local media outreach

• Tips for Working with the Local Media - NEW!
• Interview Talking Points - NEW!
• How to Communicate Successful Sprinkler Stories - NEW!
• Fire Sprinkler Facts
• Materials you Can Customize for Your Department
  • News Releases
  • Print Advertisements

What the Kit DVD Offers:
Videos

• Protect What You Value Most – ideal for educating consumers thinking about buying or building a new home
• Living with Sprinklers – designed to educate consumers already living in a home protected by sprinklers
• Built for Life – ideal for outreach to developers, homebuilders, and local community planning decision-maker

Animated Features

• Water Flow: Fire sprinkler vs. fire hose
• Fire Sprinkler System: How fire sprinklers work

Dramatic Home Fire Timeline

• Compares a home fire with and without fire sprinklers. Two versions: for adults and for middle school students - NEW!

The Kit also includes an order form for those departments wishing to request a larger quantity of materials. Most of the materials are also available in downloadable format on HFSC’s Web site: HomeFireSprinkler.org. To simplify navigation, the Web site has been organized into three main user sections: Fire Service, Consumer, and Homebuilder.

Development, printing and distribution of the new Kit are funded in part through a generous Fire Prevention and Safety Grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

To request your free kit, visit the HFSC Web site HomeFireSprinkler.org or call toll-free 1-877-550-HFSC (4372).