Videos

October 1, 2009: Two living rooms, each furnished with a flat-screen television, comfortable furniture, and bookshelves and family photos, were set on fire in West Glocester, Rhode Island, as part of a groundbreaking research project that's looking at the environmental impact of home fires. The project is a collaborative effort of FM Global and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition and will study:

• the types, quantity and duration of air and water pollutants released from a home fire as well as the water usage from fire sprinklers and firefighters’ hoses
• the environmental impact resulting from burning household furnishings and finish materials as well as disposing the fire-damaged contents of a home
• the carbon footprint associated with rebuilding a burnt home

Chris Wieczorek, Senior Research Specialist at FM Global discusses how the test burn will help researchers quantify the environmental benefit of sprinklers.

Gary Keith, Vice President of Field Operations for NFPA, and President of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC), answers questions about the burn demonstration at the FM Global Research Facility.

You can also see a collection of dramatic photos from the sprinkler test at FM Global.

September 10, 2009:  NFPA urges ICC to keep home fire sprinkler provision in its code.

June 10, 2009: A side-by-side room display set up at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago for the NFPA Conference & Expo. The side-by-side burn demonstrates the effects of a fire in two identical rooms, one with sprinklers and one without.

May 26, 2009:  A side-by-side room display set up at the Plymouth (MA) Fire Department. Sprinklers were installed in only one of the rooms. Both rooms were set on fire. Home fire sprinklers are designed to activate when a certain degree of heat increase is reached, so as the temperature in the display went up, the sprinklers went off. As seen in this demonstration, the fire in the sprinklered room was controlled quickly by overhead sprinklers. In contrast, the fire in the room without sprinklers burned out of control until the fire department put out the fire.

Your risk of dying in a home fire is cut by 80% when sprinklers are present. This video, narrated by NFPA President Jim Shannon, tells why home fire sprinklers are a critical in saving lives and property from fire.

NFPA President Jim Shannon spoke at the 2009 Residential Sprinkler Summit in Illinois, an annual event held to promote the use of home fire sprinklers.

Common Voices, an advocates' coalition determined to create a fire-safe America, has produced several videos on the need for home fire sprinklers.

The Fresno, California, Fire Department, suggests that having home fire sprinklers is like having a firefighter in your home 24 hours a day.