Recently unveiled McKenzie Ridge Terraces will include 136 executive townhomes and six semi-detached single family homes. They are the first production (spec) home project to include fire sprinklers as a standard feature in Ontario. The homebuilder added that the fire sprinklers did not increase the sale price of the homes.

The article quotes Mr. Guglietti: “I was so shocked at what an overwhelming feeling it is to see your home destroyed by fire. I knew right then that I was going to include a sprinkler system in my own new home.” He has also decided to make fire safety history by being the first production home developer to protect his home buyers with fire sprinklers.

A press conference to make the announcement, covered by Global News included a side-by-side live burn demonstration to show the life safety and property protection benefits of home fire sprinklers.

Co-operators Insurance will offer buyers of McKenzie Ridge Terraces a minimum ten-percent discount on their insurance policies because of the fire sprinkler system.

 "As far as I'm concerned, everyone in Illinois deserves safe housing," Matkaitis told NBC Chicago. "Every state fire marshal in the country is trying to do the same thing that I am, for the same reason."

The report also focused on the “testy relationship between Matkaitis and the City of Chicago” because the city insists, under home rule authority, it doesn't have to follow the state fire code at all. The largest sticking point: retrofitting residential high-rises with fire sprinkler systems.

"The statute applies all over the State of Illinois, whether it's Chicago or Cairo," Matkaitis said. "I want cooperation from everybody to save lives and property. Remember that. Save lives and property. That's the only thing that I do."

Interviewed for the report was NFPA President James Shannon who said; "There's no question that residential high-rises should have sprinklers…where sprinklers are involved, the chance that somebody's going to die in a fire in one of those buildings goes down dramatically."

The Illinois Fire Chief's Association has documented its support for the state fire marshals' effort to require fire sprinklers in all new one- and two-family homes.

The Southeast EMMY® awards celebrate excellence in media at the local and regional level. The Faces of Fire PSA was nominated for television spot announcements excellence in the community/PSA campaign category. Our PSA was one of six finalists.

Princella and Steve pose at the EMMY awards event

Present at the gala to receive the award was the “star” of the PSA Princella Lee-Bridges and Steven Minichiello, the producer who said, “We did not win. But the happiness that Princella showed was over the top.....she said it was the highlight of her life since the fire.” In that sense, we were most definitely winners.

Mr. Farr discussed the characteristics of new home construction and several UL studies, emphasizing the importance of having the “right” smoke alarm to provide early warning. Mr. Farr said; “Alerting people to the fire and giving them enough time to escape become important. It is an educational issue…homeowners need to be aware of the dangers and the importance of maintaining smoke alarms.” 

Codes and standards of smoke alarms

UL 217 is the listing standard for smoke alarms and is in the process of being revised in response to new technology. UL 268 is the listing standard for smoke detectors.

NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code covers “the application, installation, location, performance, inspection, testing, and maintenance of fire alarm systems” and other detection and signaling components; including home smoke alarms.

Smoke alarm technology

Mr. Farr discussed the two types of smoke alarm technology:

• Photoelectric, most effective in sensing large and lighter colored smoke particles associated with smoldering fires that operate by the scattering or obscuration of light caused by smoke particulates.
• Ionization: Most effective in sensing small (invisible) smoke particles associated with flaming fires that operate by monitoring a small current created by ionized air between electrically charged plates.

The types of smoke alarms/detectors available in today’s market:

• Ionization
• Photoelectric
• Dual chamber – Ionization/photoelectric
• Other Combination – Ionization/carbon monoxide
• Other Combination – Photoelectric/carbon monoxide
• Hearing impaired alarms
• Wireless interconnected alarms
• Heat detectors
• Carbon monoxide

He provided the results of a UL research project involving two structures: a one story, eight room 1,200 sq. ft. home; and a two story, open floor plan, 3,200 sq. ft. home. Several fire scenarios were used to test smoke alarm response as follows:

• Kitchen fires - toast, bacon, coffee maker
• Living room fires - heating elements and open flame/candle on sofa/chair
• Bedroom fires – heating element on mattress, pillow

The tests underscored the value of sleeping with the bedroom door closed to keep out fire and smoke.

Finally, he indicated that the tests revealed results similar to conclusions drawn by task forces in California, Ohio and Maryland; “that multiple alarms with multiple technologies work best to provide early warning in the majority of situations.”

Visit the NFPA conference blog for additional information and to download the presentation.

The non-profit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) reports on its blog that more than 200 members of the homebuilding industry have evaluated its online 3D interactive homebuilder education program.

HFSC updated the series with grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Fire Prevention & Safety Grant award program.

HFSC’s evaluation showed strong interest from homebuilders and favorable response:

• 88% said the program was worth watching;
• 85% said it improved their knowledge about home fire sprinklers;
• and nearly three-quarters said they are more likely to recommend fire sprinklers after seeing the program.

HFCS informs that Anthony Palladino, Building Designer CGP at Golden Rule Builders in Catlett, Virginia, was one of those who participated and said, “HFSC is my go-to resource for educational materials,” Palladino says. “The way the information is centered on educating the consumer with basic facts about home fire sprinklers is very important to me as a builder.”

HFSC continues to excel, providing free educational pieces. Field advocates can now point to this much needed tool when engaging builders in their communities.

View the new 3D program or order free educational materials.

http://homefiresprinkler.org/

A recent article on State Farms' website titled "8 Reasons to Install a Home Fire Sprinkler System," provides its policy holders with the facts on home fire sprinklers.

"State Farm's decision to educate their customers on residential fire sprinkler systems and the protection to both life and property they provide is extremely commendable," said Russell Fleming, President of the NFSA.

State Farm is a great supporter and advocate for home fire sprinklers as a member of the board of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, a non-profit organization that provides free educational materials for consumers, builders, fire service personell, water purveyors and other home fire sprinkler stakeholders.

Massive fire at Meadowood Ct. in Loudon, VA changed four firefighters' lives forever

Documenting the “extensive urban sprawl” where “homes are being constructed at a blinding pace to keep up with the increasing number of people moving into the D.C. region,” the report highlights the threats of lightweight construction as a major safety hazard, and features a massive 2008 fire on Meadowood Court in Loudon County “as a prime example of the dangers lurking behind the walls of these homes.”

This fire was featured in one of our Faces of Fire stories, told by the fire’s commander Chief W. Keith Brower, Jr. “When the mayday was called, I was approximately seven to eight miles out, and my heart stopped,” Brower says. “It literally froze me. It was chilling.”

A video released by Loudon County documents the fire minute by minute. Three minutes after firefighters arrived, Capt. Micah Kiger led his men into the burning home and up the stairs to the fire. Just three minutes later, a flashover occurred. This fire changed their lives forever. “(It) actually trapped us,” said Kiger. “It was basically your worst nightmare hearing the other people scream that were burning up.”

Video: Investigative Report into the Meadowood Court Fire, Loudoun County, VA

Video: Bill Kirkpatrick says that most communities in the United States would not need to upgrade their water infrastructure systems because of home fire sprinkler requirements.

Video: Bill Kirkpatrick says that when a community has home fire sprinklers installed, it benefits the community and water purveyors alike.

Related articles

MA state representative: how I got involved in the fight for home fire sprinklers

Ms Byrne, a registered nurse for more than 16 years, has spent the past five years as Burn Community Educator for the Burn Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ, and is  a member of the New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Coalition.

Ms Byrne says; “From the medical perspective, we don’t understand why this (requirements for sprinkler installations in all new homes) hasn’t been taken care of already. We didn’t realize how difficult this effort was. In fact, a lot of us assumed there were already sprinklers in homes.”

Ms. Byrne said that she knows accidents will happen. “But when we see patients whose burns were preventable, we must never rest until something is done.”

The Olympia City Council decided on the requirement in a preliminary 6-1 vote recently and is expected to take a final vote on the matter next week.

The article includes statements by Angela White, government affairs director for Olympia Master Builders, who said her organization opposes the sprinkler requirement because modern homes are safer and have hard-wired smoke alarms. “I think that we may be moving forward on a mandate for something that is not a problem,” she said.

But she is wrong. Fire in the home is a problem; 83% of those who die in fires do so in homes. Age, disabilities and other human factors add to the risk. Fire sprinklers provide additional escape time.

Fire sprinkler opponents like to boast that new homes are safer and that smoke alarms are enough. This is a myth. Smoke alarms do a good job of providing early warning, but fire sprinklers keep home fires from becoming deadly.

New methods of construction and modern home contents negatively impact life safety. New homes are built mostly of lightweight/engineered wood components. These components when exposed to fire burn rapidly and are prone to catastrophic collapse without warning, as early as six minutes from the onset of fire.

The synthetic construction of today’s home furnishings add to the increased risk by burning hotter and producing extremly toxic fumes.

Larger homes, open spaces, increased fuel loads, void spaces, and changing building materials contribute to:

• Faster fire propagation
• Shorter time to flashover (when everything in a room explodes in flames)
• Rapid changes in fire dynamics
• Shorter escape time
• Shorter time to collapse

For more information on this and other topics visit the Research & Reports section of this site