NFPA Journal - Summer 2024 - 75

had no AES resulted in an estimated
2,840 deaths annually.
There are limits to even the best fire
protection. When someone is directly
involved in the ignition of a fire or their
clothing is burning, they may be fatally
injured before the sprinkler system operates.
If someone is physically incapable of
getting themselves to safety, even a fire
controlled by sprinklers can still cause
them harm. Seventy-six percent of the
fire deaths in sprinklered properties
resulted from fires that were confined
to the object or room of origin. This was
true for only 18 percent of the deaths
that occurred in fires in which no AES
was present. Data indicates that sprinklers,
when present, keep the fire from
spreading and threatening people in
other areas. A fire that is confined to the
room of origin is much less dangerous to
those outside the room.
Sprinklers in home fires
During the 2017-2021 period, some type
of sprinkler system was present in an
estimated annual average of 23,675 (7
percent) reported home structure fires.
Properties under construction were
excluded from these estimates. Wet pipe
sprinkler systems were present in most
reported home structure fires with sprinklers.
The civilian death rate per 1,000
reported fires was 89 percent lower in
homes with sprinklers than in homes
with no AES. These rates are based on
the reported presence or absence of an
AES; operation was not considered.
The civilian injury rate per 1,000
reported fires was 31 percent lower in
homes with sprinklers than in homes
with no AES. In many cases the injuries
occurred in fires that were too small to
activate the sprinkler system. In others,
someone was injured while trying to fight
the fire in the initial moments before the
sprinklers operated. The average firefighter
injury rate per 1,000 reported home fires
was 48 percent lower when sprinklers were
present than in fires with no AES.
When sprinklers were present in
reported home fires, the average property
NFPA.ORG/SPRINKLERREPORT
Read the complete report on U.S.
Experience with Sprinklers, 2017-2021.
loss per fire was 55 percent lower than
the average in homes with no AES. When
sprinklers were present, almost all the
fires were confined to the object or room
of origin. Most civilian deaths and injuries
resulting from fires in homes with
sprinklers were caused by these fires. In
home fires that lacked AES, fewer than
three-quarters of the fires were confined
to the object or room of origin. Less than
a fifth of the deaths and less than half of
the injuries in home fires with no AES
present resulted from such fires. Sprinklers
operated in most of the home fires
in which sprinklers were present and
where the fires were considered large
enough to activate them. They were effective
in controlling the fire in 98 percent
of the fires in which they operated.
TUCKER MCGREE is a research analyst in the
Research Division at NFPA.
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NFPA Journal - Summer 2024

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