Reports are free to NFPA members. For additional information or assistance, e-mail Paula Levesque or call +1 617 984-7443.
U.S. Experience with Sprinklers
John R. Hall, Jr., June 2013
Includes statistics on how often sprinklers are reported in fires, by property use, and their estimated impact in reducing the average loss of life and property per fire. Includes statistics on performance, usage and reliability of sprinklers, as well as leading reasons when system fail to operate or operate but are ineffective. Also includes special study statistics on non-fire sprinkler activations.
Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires
Marty Ahrens, September 2011
Report includes statistics on home smoke alarm usage, effectiveness, operationality, and home fire fatalities in fires with and without working smoke alarms. Also includes home fire death rate with different combinations of fire protection equipment. Brief discussion of literature on audibility and waking effectiveness.
Also available: Smoke Alarm Presence and Performance in U.S. Home Fires (PDF, 485 KB) an article by Marty Ahrens, NFPA, October 2010. This article was published online by Fire Technology on October 23, 2010.
U.S. Experience with Non-Water-Based Automatic Fire Extinguishing Equipment
John R. Hall, Jr., October 2012
Includes statistics on usage and performance of non-water-based automatic extinguishing systems, principally wet or dry chemical systems, including how often they are reported in fires, overall and by major property use reporting their presence, as well as statistics on estimated reliability and effectiveness, as well as leading reasons when systems fail to operate or operate but are ineffective.
Unwanted Fire Alarms
April 2011
This report, prepared for the International Association of Fire Chief’s May 2011 Fire Alarm Response and Management Summit, contains estimates of fire department responses to false alarms, public experience with unwanted fire alarms, causes of these alarms, and possible policies to address them. Detailed tables about fire department responses to false alarms in 2003 are also provided.