Fire sprinklers save lives and NFPA is committed to doing all we can to bring this higher level of safety home.
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 here 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.
NFPA Standards Council bans use of antifreeze in sprinkler systems for new residential construction The NFPA Standards Council has banned the use of antifreeze solution in residential fire sprinkler systems for new construction until further action by NFPA consensus standards committees, and NFPA has issued a follow-up to its July 2010 safety alert to provide updated guidance on the use of antifreeze in residential fire sprinkler systems. The council action and updated alert follow new research that was conducted after a fire incident raised concerns about antifreeze solutions in residential fire sprinkler systems. The incident involved a grease fire in a kitchen where a sprinkler with a high concentration of antifreeze deployed. The fire resulted in a single fatality and serious injury to another person.
How do home fire sprinklers work? In a home fire sprinkler system, a network of piping filled with water under pressure is installed behind the walls and ceilings, and individual sprinklers are placed along the piping to protect the areas beneath them. Because the water is always in the piping, the fire sprinkler system is always "on call".