Advocates Make the Story Real

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Momentum. Momentum is a great feeling to have when your work and passion are aligned, and your organization and cause are moving forward. It’s with a happy heart that I report to you that your NFSA is working hard everyday to build on the momentum that we are feeling. It takes partners to grow our momentum, and we have some good ones on our team.

I’ll never forget my first phone call from Sher Grogg. The call came to me in late summer, less than six months since Sher’s tragedy, and there was a strong connection from the start. I listened in awe as she shared the tragedy that had happened to her family and her words: “I am ready to do something to share our story so that others will not repeat it, and everyone says you can help.” Humbled beyond words, and determined to help, we quickly went to work to share all that we know and arm her with facts, statistics and solutions. 

That was the beginning of Sher’s story with Common Voices, and we are happy to share that we are well on our way to welcoming Sher into our group of advocates. Her new PSA helps viewers realize that fire is fast, and we are honored to add her to our family. There is much to learn, and I am honored to share Sher’s experience with you here.

Sher’s story

On Jan. 19, 2015, an electrical fire that spread to a 15-foot Christmas tree prompted a blaze that reduced a 16,000-square-foot, unsprinklered mansion in Maryland to ruins, killing a couple and four of their young grandchildren. Sher Grogg’s brother and sister-in-law, along with her four nieces and nephews, were the victims of that fatal fire.

Exactly one year later, Sher had turned this tragedy into advocacy, as she spent the day in Annapolis, helping Maryland legislators understand the importance of fire sprinklers in homes. She explains with great candor that her brother and his family would still be alive had fire sprinklers been installed when the home was constructed in 2007.

This example is a great one that shows what can happen when we work together. The NFSA is proud to be involved in building partnerships that have impact at the state and local level. Partnering with Common Voices, the NFFF and the Maryland Coalition for Residential Fire Sprinklers, we are working to ensure that Maryland maintains its statewide code adoption that requires fire sprinklers in all new construction, as is required in the national minimum IRC building code. 

The following letter from Sher Grogg is eye-opening and shows the power of one person getting involved to make a difference.

“Having a horrific tragedy befall your family changes your life in a profound way. I lost my brother, my sister-in-law, and their four precious grandchildren, in a fire that was too hot and too fast to escape, in the pre-dawn hours of a January morning.

Since the accident, I have been waking at 3 a.m. in dread that it is too late, and I cannot save my brother, my family.

It is too late. Every night I come to grips with that over and over again—EVERY night, still ….

At first I searched the Internet, in the wee hours of the morning, to learn more about fire, flashover and fire safety advocacy groups—anything to feel I was doing something constructive.

Since then I have met with many fire experts and gained the guidance and power to share information that may save a life, keep another family from this suffering, or affect a change in residential fire sprinkler codes.

It is the only thing that gives me a sense of purpose in my whole life right now.

Fire is fast. It’s much faster than I ever imagined. Flashover—the point at which everything combustible in the room ignites and the room bursts into flames—can happen in less than three minutes. No one survives flashover. Understanding flashover has helped me realize that fire sprinklers buy time, and time buys life.

The one thing that might have made a difference for my family could have been a home fire sprinkler system, which would have slowed the progress of the fire and possibly bought them time to get the children and follow their escape plan. It wasn’t in the residential building code when they built their home, but it might have changed the outcome from this deadly nightmare.

I didn’t have the knowledge to save my priceless family, but I have it now, to save yours. Join with us and spread the message and support home fire sprinkler systems.”

— Sher

We appreciate Sher’s willingness to share her powerful story to underscore the importance of fire sprinklers and, ultimately, save lives.