Turning Anger into Activism

View the Firefighters & Fire Sprinklers—Partners in Progress supplement in its entirety via Firehouse’s proprietary digital platform Clarity, which includes additional content and videos, here.

Download the full PDF of the PPE supplement here.

View Firehouse’s collection of supplements and special content at firehouse.com/special-content.

Fire Chief Rick Ennis was moved by the 2015 death of a 2-year-old girl in a fast-moving home fire. Had the new home been built with requirements found in all U.S. model building codes, it should have included fire sprinklers. The home, though, was built in New York, which doesn’t require this technology in new homes. In fact, the state’s building code council chose not to include this model building code requirement when it updated its state building code. Knowing this tragedy might have been prevented, Ennis couldn’t keep quiet.  

“Why, in 2015, does a fire like this take a life in a newly built, single-family home?" Ennis wrote in a commentary for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), published last year. “I am not suggesting that reevaluating our perspective on fire sprinklers is the only way to improve fire suppression, firefighter safety, and service delivery, but I will not back off that it would be an improvement to all of these critical areas of the fire service.” Ennis now chairs the Missouri Fire Sprinkler Coalition, which aims to bolster the local acceptance of home fire sprinklers in new homes.

Mirroring Ennis’s annoyance of the status quo is an army of advocates unifying its effort for safer homes. Fueled by the facts—particularly that nearly 3,000 annual fire deaths, or 80 percent of all U.S. fire deaths, happen at home—they are transforming their anger over senseless tragedies into action. Giving them this outlet is the NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Initiative, an advocacy campaign aimed at increasing the use of home fire sprinklers via the adoption of sprinkler requirements in new construction. Through on-the-ground support, groundbreaking research and online resources, the campaign has led to a growing grassroots movement supporting this technology.

Close to 30 states have formed a state sprinkler coalition, linking the fire service with local safety advocates. Their aim is to educate the public on home fire sprinklers and advocate for sprinkler requirements on the legislative or code-making level. These tactics are working. The Connecticut Fire Sprinkler Coalition, for instance, recently organized an effective summit for officials overseeing the state’s water resources and building officials to dispel popular myths on fire sprinkler operation. Following a similar event by the Massachusetts Fire Sprinkler Coalition, the state’s Building Commissioners and Inspectors Association openly supported home fire sprinklers on the legislative and regulatory fronts.

“The fire service has long been the strongest advocates for fire safety and are the driving force behind these grassroots efforts to bring fire sprinklers to the final frontier—homes,” says Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “In order to continue the movement, we need more of the fire service to embrace home fire sprinklers as the key to keeping their communities and their fellow firefighters safer from fire.”

Help eliminate North America’s home fire problem by taking action in support of home fire sprinklers. Visit FireSprinklerInitiative.org to join or start a state coalition and lend your voice to the cause.