May 26, 2009 5:57 pm US/Eastern
Sprinklers Save Lives, At What Cost?
PLYMOUTH (WBZ) ―
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The cost of sprinklers is about $1.60 a square foot or about $3,000 for a 2,000 square foot home.
WBZ
Fire experts persuasively demonstrated the life-saving effectiveness of residential fire sprinklers in Plymouth where four elderly people have died in home fires over the past three months.
Within little more than a minute, a furnished 8 x 8 room model was fully engulfed as Ron Hazleton of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition narrated the demonstration. "If you look at the newspaper on the floor, when that ignites, that's about when flashover will occur which is just about (pop, a TV explodes) now," he said.
Then, observers watched the dramatic difference when one sprinkler was activated in an identical room. "We're about 25 to 30 seconds in now and there goes the sprinkler," explained Hazleton, and the fire was out.
Plymouth Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Young said sprinklers "could have made all the difference" in his town's four recent fatal fires. There also were no working smoke detectors in those homes.
The state Board of Building Regulations and Standards is working on a draft proposal that could require sprinklers in new one and two family homes when codes are revised about a year from now.
Jim Shannon, National Fire Protection Association President, says the time is now.
"If we can get people to adopt these codes requiring residential sprinklers in new homes, it's going to save thousands and thousands of lives over the next couple of decades," said Shannon, former Massachusetts Attorney General and a former U.S. Congressman.
The cost of sprinklers is about $1.60 a square foot or about $3,000 for a 2,000 square foot home. "So the cost of residential sprinklers is less than that of what we put in the ground to keep our lawn green," said Massachusetts State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan.
Because sudden and extensive damage, such as that in the model without a sprinkler, can be prevented with one, advocates say it can not only save your life but your home as well.
Fire safety experts say your risk of dying in a home fire is cut by 80 percent with the use of sprinklers.
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