Residential Sprinkler Systems
The data are clear. Sprinkler systems save lives.
Reducing Injuries & Deaths Caused By Residential Fires
Deaths from fires and burns are the third leading cause of fatal home injury in the United States. Despite spending significantly more than many countries on fire prevention, the mortality rate in the United States from fires ranks seventh worst among the 25 developed countries for which statistics are available. Many firefighters lose their lives fighting these fires too. How can we change this? Residential fire sprinklers could play a potentially significant role in reducing these injuries and deaths caused by residential fires.
To learn more, read below about the benefits of installing residential sprinklers, as well as dispelling some common misconceptions about how fire sprinklers work and appear. Finally, we have some links to more information about residential fire sprinklers and the effort to increase their use in North Carolina. We hope you find this page both informative and enlightening with regard to fire safety in the home.
Benefits of Residential Fire Sprinklers
Sprinklers are designed to detect, report, and confine a fire until fire suppression forces arrive to fully extinguish the fire.
Sprinklers protect paths of egress - bedrooms, hallways, kitchens, dining rooms and laundry rooms - providing for maximum life safety for the occupants inside or to protect those who may be trapped and unable to escape on their own.
Sprinklers contain a quick response element that allows the sprinkler head to react very quickly thus preventing a small fire from becoming too large to be handled by the system.
Sprinkler piping replaces the cold water domestic system, which saves money for the homeowner.
The sprinkler system will severely limit a fire's growth. Therefore, damage from a home sprinkler system will be much less severe than otherwise would be the case. It would even be less than the water damage caused by firefighting hose lines.
Homeowners could realize insurance discounts up to 15%. This would be in addition to any burglar alarm or fire discounts already in force.
Residential sprinklers increase firefighter safety and reduce the risk of injury by reducing the size and intensity of the fire. They also assist firefighters in rescue efforts by limiting the fire's size and reducing deadly smoke and gases that result.
Learn More
To learn much more about the benefits for residential fire sprinklers and the efforts by the fire service in North Carolina to increase the use and presence of residential sprinkler systems, we encourage you to visit a website set up by the North Carolina State Firemen's Association. You may also wish to visit the U.S. Fire Administration's website on residential sprinkler systems too. Other resources to consult include the International Residential Code Fire Sprinkler Coalition and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition. Finally, read information about common misconceptions regarding how sprinklers work.
