Properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler systems help save lives. Because fire sprinkler systems react so quickly, they can dramatically reduce the heat, flames, and smoke produced in a fire. Fire sprinklers have been around for more than a century, protecting commercial and industrial properties and public buildings. What many people don't realize is that the same life-saving technology is also available for homes, where roughly 85% of all civilian fire deaths occur.
NFPA's Fire Sprinkler Initiative
The "Fire Sprinkler Initiative®: Bringing Safety Home" project outlines proven
, effective ways that home fire sprinkler advocates can communicate the impact of sprinklers. Visit the initiative web site for free resources for the fire service and other sprinkler advocates, including fact sheets, videos, research, and our "Faces of Fire" campaign, which features real people telling personal stories that demonstrate the need for home fire sprinklers.
Facts about home fire sprinklers
- If you have a reported fire in your home, the risk of dying decreases by about 80 percent when sprinklers are present.
- People in homes with sprinklers are protected against significant property loss—sprinklers reduce the average property loss by about 71% per fire.
- Home sprinkler systems respond quickly to reduce the heat, flames, and smoke from a fire, giving families valuable time to get to safety.
- Roughly 85 percent of the time, just one sprinkler operates.
Read NFPA's "U.S. Experience with Sprinklers" report by John R. Hall, Jr., June 2013.
Video: NFPA's Lisa Braxton talks about the benefits of automatic fire sprinkler systems.
Home fire sprinklers included at the VISION House® in INNOVENTIONS at Epcot®
Green Builder® Media’s VISION House® exhibit in INNOVENTIONS at Epcot®, which opened on Earth Day 2012. Learn more about the exhibit and a study that shows greenhouse gases released by burning buildings can be reduced by 98% when automatic fire sprinklers are installed.
Additional resources