Taxation WITH Representation

[wraftery 1,275]

NFPA receives major grant from FEMA for national sprinkler awareness campaign

Campaign aims to reduce fire losses by advocating need for home fire sprinkler requirements

April 15, 2010 – The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) received a $746,438 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct a national home fire sprinkler awareness campaign, “Faces of Fire,” which will demonstrate the true impact residential fires have on individuals and families, and encourage people to take action to prevent fire deaths in their communities by advocating for home fire sprinklers requirements for new construction.

The goal of the project is to reduce the number of home fire deaths, which account for more than 80 percent of fire deaths. By working with and providing resources to the fire service and consumers, the campaign will educate communities on the live-saving impact of home fire sprinklers and offer a set of tools that can be used at the local and state level to make the case for sprinkler requirements in communities. The grant was awarded under the 2009 Assistance to Firefighters – Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program.

“Sadly, home fires kill nearly 3,000 people a year, yet sprinklers could greatly reduce these losses,” said James M. Shannon, president and CEO of NFPA.“We have long known the life-saving benefits of sprinklers in many types of buildings. It is critical to bring this technology into homes where the vast majority of fire deaths occur.”

In 2009, NFPA launched the Fire Sprinkler Initiative®: Bringing Safety Home, a nationwide effort to increase the use of home fire sprinklers through the adoption of sprinkler requirements in new one- and two-family homes.

Funds from the FEMA grant will greatly expand the reach of information on the life-saving benefits of sprinklers and resources available for people interested in adopting the use of sprinklers in their community. The Fire Sprinkler Initiative Web site will be enhanced to feature a special toolkit containing media materials, fact sheets, and other content to support sprinkler advocacy at the local level. Other campaign initiatives include paid advertisements in traditional media; social media components, such as a YouTube video campaign featuring actual fire victims; and a social media outreach.

NFPA will also host representatives from each state for a training meeting, which will include public safety educators, fire officials, and building officials, among others.

You heard it first right here at EMT BRAVO. Let's see how this sprinkler incentive is going to work using a little math.

Here's how it worked in the past. The sprinkler incentive should go the same route:

Career, volunteer or otherwise, we all pay Federal taxes.

The federal government funds FEMA.

FEMA takes our money and gives this huge grant to NFPA

NFPA uses our money to come up with a smoke detector program

NFPA then charges us (quite dearly, too) to get this program to tell people they need smoke detectors

To pay for this progam, we have to charge local taxpayers.

Wouldn't we be better off just enacting a sprinkler requirement in our building code?

Edited April 16, 2010 by wraftery

[Alpinerunner 61]

Not to get too off topic, but do you think it's possible to have an effective sprinkler system in a home with a well? I'm thinking that a bedroom would have to be half consumed before the heat activates a sprinkler. Do you think a well pump could supply enough water to effectively knock down or contain a fire? It very well could, I just don't know enough about well pump flow capacity and sprinkler head flow requirements.

[antiquefirelt 994]

Not to get too off topic, but do you think it's possible to have an effective sprinkler system in a home with a well? I'm thinking that a bedroom would have to be half consumed before the heat activates a sprinkler. Do you think a well pump could supply enough water to effectively knock down or contain a fire? It very well could, I just don't know enough about well pump flow capacity and sprinkler head flow requirements.

Not to be too harsh but we need firefighters to understand and support sprinkler systems to ensure these laws get passed. Sprinkler heads will activate far before the fire consumes much, typically 30 seconds in to a spreading fire, when the heat reaches a mere 130 degrees.

Systems that are off the municipal water system typically use a 275-300 gallon water tank and an electric pump to supply the requisite flow (two heads for design requirements). I have one sprinkler contractor in my area that will can sell this tank/pump set up for $1000 on top of the typical piping and design. The point it to be able to supply two heads until the occupants can escape the FD can arrive, about 10 minutes. Statistically, one or two heads put out most residential dwelling fires if equipped and cut the property losses dramatically while reducing deaths and injuries to nearly non-existent.

Our 'Burg passed the sprinkler requirement in NFPA 101, for all one and two family dwellings in December 09. Yesterday the Maine State technical committee on the building code decided 10-1 to not require sprinklers even though they're adopting two codes that require them. Ours will remain until the politicians feel the heat and cave.

Edited April 17, 2010 by antiquefirelt

[wraftery 1,275]

Not to get too off topic, but do you think it's possible to have an effective sprinkler system in a home with a well? I'm thinking that a bedroom would have to be half consumed before the heat activates a sprinkler. Do you think a well pump could supply enough water to effectively knock down or contain a fire? It very well could, I just don't know enough about well pump flow capacity and sprinkler head flow requirements.

A NFPA 13D (1 & 2 Family Dwellings) has a different design than the Commercial systems we are used to. They are faster acting and lower flow so as to catch the fire when it is just past the incipient stage. Homes with low-flow wells require a tank for water supply.

We are starting to explain 13D already right here in this thread and it's not costing us tax money twice!

Sorry antiquefirelt I should have read yours before I came back to finish mine.

Edited April 17, 2010 by wraftery