Residential Fire Sprinklers .com

Protecting Your Home & Family

With the nation’s model building codes now requiring fire sprinkler systems in all new homes, representatives of 28 national and international organizations concerned with residential fire safety just held a National Residential Fire Sprinkler Summit to discuss opportunities for cooperative advocacy at the state and local level. The summit, facilitated by Chief Ronny Coleman, President of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition and former California State Fire Marshal, identified inter-organizational communication and sharing of resources as top priorities.

“It’s clear that requiring fire sprinklers in new homes is good public policy, and it’s very encouraging to see such a high level of collaboration among advocacy groups to promote this cause,” said Chief Coleman. “Having all of these groups represented at the Summit meeting was a clear demonstration that we are ready, willing and able to work together as allies to support jurisdictions in their code adoption efforts.”

The IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition is building a network of state-level chapters to enhance communications among state and local fire safety advocates and national and international organizations, which will also facilitate the sharing and coordination of resources.

“There is no doubt that we’ll see some well-organized and well-funded opposition from home builder groups as we advocate adoption of the 2009 International Residential Code’s sprinkler requirement. Nevertheless, we’re prepared to assist local officials in making the case that requiring fire sprinklers in new homes is the best approach to achieving a sustainable reduction in residential fire losses,” said Jeffrey Shapiro, PE, Executive Director of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition. “The nation’s fire safety advocates are committed to seeing this through.”

About IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition: Founded in 2007, the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition has grown to include more than 100 regional, national and international public safety organizations, including associations representing 44 states, all of which support the mission of promoting residential fire sprinkler systems as a standard feature in new home construction. The Coalition was formed to educate public policymakers on the value of residential sprinkler systems and to support related legislation. More information can be found at www.IRCFireSprinkler.org.

It has been said by some that “if you’re going to speak for residential fire sprinklers in single family homes, it’s imperative that you live in a sprinklered house.” I wish to respond to this claim in order to encourage all supporters of residential fire sprinklers to speak out regardless of the current level of fire protection in their home.

I recently purchased a home which did not have fire sprinklers installed. I have not (yet) installed fire sprinklers in my home; but, I support the passing of residential fire sprinklers in the IRC.

The IRC will only require fire sprinkler installation in NEW single family dwellings (SFDs). It is much more cost effective to install fire sprinklers in new construction when all of the walls are open and all areas of the home are easily accessible. The monetary cost difference for retrofitting a house with sprinklers is sometimes more than double the cost to install them when the house is being constructed.

Take my case for example. The long-term plan for my house is to install fire sprinklers. However, when I do, it is going to be a painful project. There are areas where I am going to have to pull out drywall and (because I have a two-story house) tear up the floor in some areas as well. After all the floor repairs, drywall dust cleanup and painting is done, I will have fire sprinklers in my house. I could see how this would deter your everyday household from retrofitting fire sprinklers into their home.

It is for this reason that the new IRC residential fire sprinkler code requirement IS so important. If the fire sprinklers had been installed when my house was being constructed, then their much lower cost would have been lumped into my 30 year loan. Now, the installation will cost more and would be on a separate loan.

Based on this, I think I am still credible for wanting and supporting residential fire sprinkler requirements to pass even though I do not have them in my existing home. My support of the new requirement is so that future homeowners will not have to wrestle with the retrofit decision versus simply having them installed with the original construction.

Justin Reid is a Project Engineer at RLH Fire Protection out of their Van Nuys, CA office providing fire protection contracting services in California, Nevada and Hawaii. Justin is a registered Professional Engineer in Fire Protection in the State of California. Prior to working at RLH, Justin worked for three years as a consultant at Schirmer Engineering Corporation in their Los Angeles office where he provided building code analysis, performance based design, smoke control third party testing/design and a wide range of other services to numerous clients. Justin graduated from the University of Maryland College Park with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering in 2004. While in school, Justin completed an internship at the Schirmer Engineering Washington DC office, worked on Capitol Hill in the Office of Compliance and worked at the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Fire Research Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. Justin is the current President of the Southern California Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, is a national SFPE Member, NFPA Member and member of the Salamander Fire Protection Engineering Honor Society, Beta Chapter.

By Andy Johns - Chattanooga Times Free Press

In the middle of a housing slump, the last thing Tina Rice wants to do is tack on a few thousand dollars to the price of home construction.

Which is why she’s against a move requiring fire sprinkler systems to be installed in all new homes, a move that some builders say could add between about $4,000 to $10,000, depending on the size of a house.

“To me it’s like you’re almost getting rid of your first-time home buyer,” said Ms. Rice, the Bradley County building inspector. “The way I look at it, you’re pricing people out of buying a home.”

Ms. Rice spoke out against the fire-sprinkler portion of the 2009 International Residential Code in September while attending the International Code Council’s Final Action Hearings in Minnesota. But the council went ahead and voted in favor of sprinklers, so all one- and two-family residences and townhomes built after Jan. 1, 2011 in areas where the code is adopted must have sprinkler systems, according to an code council spokesman.

Under Tennessee law, however, it could be years before any new homes in the state must have fire sprinkler systems, according to Ms. Rice.

And once the code is adopted, local governments have the option to amend it to exclude certain portions or simply fail to enforce all the rules, according to Michael Colopy, spokesman for International Code Council.

“In other words, this is a model code,” he said. “By itself it doesn’t have the force of law.”

State law requires counties with building inspectors to operate under a code that’s no more than six years older than the code adopted by the state. Since Tennessee only recently adopted the 2006 code, it could be years before the state adopts the newest code.

Hamilton County would probably follow the cue of the state, according to Pat Payne, director of building inspection for the county. Hamilton, which now uses the 2003 code, would do what it needed to remain in compliance with the state, he said.

Proponents of the sprinkler systems say they save lives, which is worth the small cost of installation.

“It’s two Big Macs a month on a 30-year mortgage,” said Wayne Waggoner, executive director of the Tennessee Fire Sprinkler Contractors Association.

The U.S. Fire Administration estimates home sprinkler systems would cost around $1 to $1.50 per square foot in new construction, which Mr. Waggoner said was true on his own house. The sprinkler system in his 3,800-square-foot house cost $3,900, he said.

At that cost, the system is well worth the expense, Mr. Waggoner said, citing the dangers fire pose to property, residents and fire officials.

To read the full article click here.

By Sonja Elmquist - Greensboro News-Record

A firefighter for 17 years, Jim Robinson has seen fire’s effect on people’s lives over and over.

“I’ve stood on someone’s front yard and I’ve handed someone their Bible out of their rubble pile,” Robinson said. His belief: If everyone had sprinklers, “we could pretty much give them their whole house back.”

Now building his dream house far from the city down a narrow gravel road, he’s not taking any chances. His sprinklers were installed Tuesday.

“Do I want my house to burn down? No way,” Robinson said. “A sprinkler system is like having a firetruck sitting in your front yard 24/7.”

What was a choice for Robinson could eventually be a requirement for anyone building a new house.

An international code-making body recently approved a recommendation that could mean that, beginning in 2012, new one- and two-family homes built in North Carolina might be required to have fire sprinklers.

Commonly seen as invasive, messy and expensive, sprinklers rarely pop up high on home buyers’ — and home builders’ — list of add-ons.

But firefighters say that perception doesn’t match reality and could cost lives.

The N.C. Office of the State Fire Marshal supported the adoption of the requirement in the 2009 International Residential Code, said Kristin Milam, a spokeswoman for the agency.

The International Code Council approved the change at its annual conference in September.

Most states, including North Carolina, use the International Residential Code as the basis for their state and local residential codes.

The National Association of Home Builders opposed the change because of the systems’ potential to discharge accidentally and cause water damage. The systems also need maintenance to remain functional, according to news releases of the association.

The earliest the N.C. Building Code Council could adopt the revised international code would be 2012, Milam said.

Two recent fires in the city illustrate sprinkler advocates’ point, said David Douglas, Greensboro’s fire marshal.

“The circumstances are identical, but the outcomes are dramatically different,” Douglas said. According to the fire department:

Ten months apart, each in their own home, Gwendolyn Williams and Tracy Travis heated oil on their stoves. Each walked into another room, forgetting about the oil in the kitchen.

Williams went to sleep. When her smoke detector went off, she remembered the oil, went to the kitchen, saw it on fire and ran outside to call 911. The only damage to her apartment was a mark on the floor where the pot landed when it fell from the stove. Sprinklers had put out the fire before firefighters arrived.

When Travis went back into his kitchen to check on the oil, he found it on fire. He tried to put it out by spraying it with water from the sprayer on his kitchen sink, but when the water hit the hot oil, the oil erupted, burning Travis and spreading the fire.

By the time firefighters arrived, the kitchen was gutted and there was heat and smoke damage to the rest of the 1,300-square-foot house. The house was condemned.

Travis was hospitalized in the burn center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center with serious burns to his head and arms.

Although people are cautioned not to put water on a home grease fire, the 12 to 15 gallons of water dispensed by a residential sprinkler is adequate to cool the oil and suppress eruptions caused by steam from the smaller amount of water coming from a sink, Douglas said.

For the past six years, fires in dwellings with sprinklers have caused far less damage than fires in those without, according to fire department data.

Since July 1, fire damage in homes with sprinklers has averaged one fifth of the amount of damage in homes without sprinklers according to data from the fire department.

For the entire six-year period, damage in homes with sprinklers has averaged about $6,000, while damage in homes without them has averaged about $20,000, according to the data.

But minimizing damage is secondary to the main purpose, which is to save lives.

To read the full article click here.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ — The national nonprofit Home Safety Council (HSC) has released new national survey results revealing that only 37 percent of respondents have taken any actions at home to prevent fires and burns — the third leading cause of injury-related death in the home.

When asked about fire safety practices, a mere 13 percent of respondents said they have planned and practiced a family fire drill — an essential step that increases the ability to respond quickly and appropriately in the event of a fire. While the majority of fatal fires happen at night, HSC also found that only half of those surveyed (51 percent) have installed smoke alarms in their bedrooms. Additionally, only eight percent of respondents live in a home protected by fire sprinklers.

“Unfortunately, our research indicates that too many families don’t understand or appreciate the danger of home fires and as a result, have not taken even the most basic steps to prepare for a fire emergency,” said Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. “With less than three minutes to escape if a fire occurs, every home needs a well-rehearsed escape plan and working smoke alarms. They are critical to saving lives.”

The Home Safety Council is also a strong advocate for increased installation of home fire sprinkler systems, which will put out or keep the fire small until the fire department arrives.

Home Fire Sprinkler Systems: An Added Layer of Protection

With recent research revealing that 41 percent of adults do not know that fire sprinklers are a safety option for their home, HSC is working to raise awareness for this life-saving technology by educating consumers that a residential sprinkler system is the best protection from fires.

Home fire sprinklers detect the high heat from a fire and put water on the flames within seconds of a fire starting, limiting the smoke, heat and poison gases that a fire produces. Sprinklers will put the fire out or keep it small until firefighters arrive; giving residents more time to escape. Fire sprinklers also protect property and belongings.

If you are buying a home or moving to a new apartment, choose one with a fire sprinkler system. If you are building a home or remodeling your existing home, consider having a home fire sprinkler system installed. Talk to your local fire department for help finding a qualified home fire sprinkler installer.

Visit MySafeHome.org to Create a Home Fire Safety Plan

Through its new, interactive online safety destination — MySafeHome.org — HSC provides simple room-by-room tips to help families make each area of the home safe from fire dangers, indoors and out. The site offers the opportunity to explore a virtual home and learn about the safety actions and technology that can protect against fires and the other leading causes of home injury — in every area of the home. MySafeHome.org offers one-click access to simple, straightforward tips and checklists to help families take a room-by- room approach to make the entire home safe.

Voting members of the leading building code body in the nation, the International Code Council (ICC), overwhelmingly supported a residential fire sprinkler requirement for all new one- and two-family homes and townhouses.

Fire service and building code officials united to approve the requirement and countered opposition. The code proposal, RB64, easily overcame a procedural requirement that mandated a super-majority of two-thirds approval. This represents an unprecedented step forward in advancing home fire safety in the United States.

The vote, held today in Minneapolis, was supported by 73 percent of the voting members in attendance.

The IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition, an association of more than 100 fire service, building code official, and safety organizations representing 45 states, assumed a leadership position and secured unified support for this issue over the past 18 months.

“Our team worked hard to rally support throughout the United States for a residential fire sprinkler requirement, but our supporters deserve the recognition for showing up en masse in Minneapolis,” said Ronny J. Coleman, president of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition. “They know from experience that sprinklers are the answer to the nation’s fire problem.”

Fire deaths in the United States realized a dramatic decline over the past three decades as smoke alarms became common – today, more than 95 percent of homes have them. Still, more than 3,000 people die each year from fire, and a home burns every 80 seconds. Residential sprinklers are the only fire protection technology that works to rapidly contain fire, effectively giving families more time to escape the deadly heat and poisonous gases of an unchecked fire. Therefore, the proposal’s passage has also pleased home safety advocates across the country.

“We work with families every day that are directly affected by the ravages of fire,” said Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. “We are thrilled not only because this moment has taken decades of demanding work to achieve, but because it provides protection for potential victims of future fires.”

Kaaren Mann, a fire safety advocate and the mother of a fire victim stated in her testimony, “the cost to put sprinklers into the home where my daughter died would have been less than what I had to pay for the flowers at her funeral.”

The sprinkler mandate will first appear in the 2009 International Residential Code® (IRC), which will be published by the end of the year. Forty-six states use the IRC as the basis of regulating new home construction.

“The vote was a historic moment in residential fire safety – and is a significant step in a long journey before sprinklers are installed in every new home,” noted Ronny J. Coleman, president of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition. “We’re now going to move forward at the state and local level to ensure new code requirement is adopted.”

The potential impact of this code change is discussed at “Residential Fire Sprinklers Market Growth and Labor Demand Analysis“

By CARL ROTENBERG - Norristown Times Herald

The reconstruction of two apartment buildings in Conshohocken destroyed by the eight-alarm fire in August will include sprinkler systems in attic areas that are not currently required by state construction codes.

Brian O’Neill, the president of O’Neill Properties Group of Upper Merion, described the fire-fighting effort Tuesday night to the West Norriton Board of Commissioners because his company has built 675 apartments in similar buildings in West Norriton.

“We have built 180 buildings in our career. It was an accident,” O’Neill said. “The fire officials think the embers from a steelworker cutting steel got caught up in plywood. It started as a small flame the size of a cigarette pack. A gentleman in an adjacent building took a series of pictures.”

O’Neill said that intense heat radiating from the fire consuming the wood-framed building under construction and started a fire on the roof of the adjacent, occupied apartment buildings.

“There were sprinklers on all floors but not in the attic areas,” O’Neill said. “We plan to adjust that in the future.”

The apartment building under construction did not have sprinkler systems installed when the fire started. It did have drywall “fire-stops” in the attic areas up to the roofline, however.

O’Neill said the building design for the occupied apartment buildings, which included required cement-block emergency stairwells, allowed about 200 people to escape the fire without injuries.

Firefighters had adequate water pressure and volume but the intense heat (3,000 to 5,000 degrees) turned the water aimed at the fire into steam before it could reach the burning wood, he said.

“The fortunate thing about Conshohocken is that this is a lesson in revitalization,” he said. “Eight thousand people are working there and 650 people are living there. The buildings worked because they were designed to get people out.”

O’Neill said that when his company builds the 309 apartments in two new buildings in Conshohocken, sprinkler systems will be included in unoccupied, attic areas.

West Norriton Engineer Joe Estock said similar apartment buildings built by O’Neill at Riverview Landing in West Norriton had sprinklers in attic areas, outdoor balconies and storage areas, in addition to the required apartment installations.

Zoning Officer Tom Cinaglia said Tuesday night he was unsure if the six Riverview Landing apartment buildings, which contain about 300 apartments, have fire stops in the attic areas.

View more articles about the Conshohocken Apartment Fire

To read the full article click here.

How many times have you left the house in the morning and wondered, “Did I turn off the stove?” With our busy lives, the safety of our homes and families are sometimes relegated to the back of our minds – an afterthought as we hop in the car to start the day.

Fire departments across the country want you to make sure that the stove burner is turned off or the damaged electrical cord you’ve been meaning to fix is your top priority during Fire Prevention Week, October 5-11. The theme of this year’s campaign, “Prevent Home Fires,” focuses on preventing the leading causes of home fires – cooking, heating and electrical equipment, and smoking materials.

According to the latest statistics from the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), there were an estimated 396,000 reported home structure fires in 2006, resulting in 2,580 civilian deaths, 12,500 civilian injuries and $6.8 billion in direct damage in the United States. Home fires caused 80% of civilian deaths and 76% of injuries.

While the statistics are daunting, most home fires are easily preventable when we narrow our focus and take personal steps to increase our safety. One way to do this is by proactively combing through each room in your home to find signs of danger and fix them. Fire departments are encouraging residents and their families to put their safety first by performing a home hazards inspection during Fire Prevention Week. You can download an inspection checklist at Home Fire Safety Inspection.

There are also a number of simple steps that you can put into action to keep your home safe from fire:

• Cooking: Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period time, turn off the stove.

• Heating: Keep all things that can burn, such as paper, bedding or furniture, at least 3 feet away form heating equipment.

• Electrical: Replace cracked and damaged electrical cords; use extension cords from temporary wiring only. Consider having additional circuits or receptacles added by a qualified electrician.

• Smoking: If you smoke, smoke outside; wherever you smoke, use deep, sturdy ashtrays.

As firefighters and fire safety educators, fire prevention is always on our minds. We hope that you use the checklist and home fire prevention tips to put your safety first during Fire Prevention Week, and year-round.

View more articles for Fire Prevention Week

By JAMES ROSEN - The State

Kaaren Mann and Bonnie Woodruff share a tragic burden that is almost too painful for them to bear.

Mann’s daughter, Lauren Mahorn, died in the Ocean Isle beach-house fire last October that also killed five other University of South Carolina students and a Clemson University student.

Woodruff’s son, Ben, was one of five UNC-Chapel Hill students who died in the May 1996 fire at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house.

The two mothers joined students and firefighters in Washington this week, lobbying Congress to pass fire-safety measures for colleges and universities.

Mann said her mission is to persuade lawmakers to pass legislation that will get more fire-sprinkler systems installed in dormitories and other student housing.

“We’re hoping that between (tax) incentives and telling people about them, they’ll become as common as seat belts in cars,” Mann said.

U.S. Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, said he backs a bill that would provide tax credits for installing fire-sprinkler systems in all dwellings, including off-campus housing where two-thirds of the nation’s students live.

“There are many good causes in the world,” Price said at a Capitol Hill briefing to launch September as National Campus Fire Safety Month. “They vie for our attention. This is one that does capture our hearts.”

Price and nine other lawmakers from North Carolina are co-sponsors of the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act, authored by Rep. James Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat.

None of South Carolina’s six U.S. House members has signed onto the bill. U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson said he told Langevin on Tuesday that he wanted to be a co-sponsor of