New report: Home fire sprinkler use in Bucks County, PA
The nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) has published a new report “that sheds new light on the lifesaving value of installing home fire sprinkler systems.” The report was prepared by Fire Planning Associates, Inc., a comprehensive preplanning organization in Washington Crossing, PA in collaboration with the Bucks County Fire Marshals Association.
HFSC informs that the group studied life safety and property protection in homes with and without fire sprinkler systems and reviewed fire experience in nearly 7,000 sprinklered homes in Buckingham, New Britain, Warrington, Warwick and Wrightstown Townships as well as Ivyland Borough.
As found in the report, there were 90 home fire fatalities in non-sprinklered one- and two-family homes during 1988-2010 in Bucks County. Those deaths made up 88% of all County fire deaths during that time. There were zero fire fatalities in homes protected by fire sprinkler systems. The report details five reported fires in sprinklered homes documented as saving at least five lives.
The average property loss in sprinklered-home fire incidents in Bucks County was $14,000, compared to $179,896 in damages to homes that experienced fires without fire sprinklers. The report found that fires in sprinklered homes required an average of 340 gallons of water to extinguish. Homes without sprinklers required an average of 5,974 gallons (or nearly 25 tons) of water.
“HFSC initiates partnerships to capture and share useful data about widespread local experience with home fire sprinkler systems,” explains HFSC Chair Gary Keith. “This new data from southeastern Pennsylvania adds to our collection of educational materials that help improve and increase the public’s knowledge about the extreme danger of home fires and the lifesaving value of installing fire sprinkler systems.”
“The new report provides detailed Bucks County case study comparisons, which will especially help consumers understand the many reasons why installing fire sprinklers in homes protects residents, property, and firefighters, like no other technology can,” Keith adds.
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