INSTALL RESIDENTIAL FIRE SPRINKLERS AND DISCOVER THEIR AMAZING
LIFE-SAVING RECORD 20 YEARS OF RESULTS POINT TO AN AMAZING RECORD OF SAVING LIVES WHEN FIRE SPRINKLERS ARE INSTALLED

 In June 1985 the city of Scottsdale, Arizona enacted a law requiring all new homes to be
fitted with fire sprinklers during construction,

Scottsdale had already passed a similar ordinance in 1974 that applied to commercial structures.  Fire officials were impressed with the results of this ordinance-nearly 90% savings in fire damage costs in structures with fire sprinklers installed-that they began testing residential fire sprinklers to see if they would be similarly effective.

The results of the ordinance to install fire sprinklers spoke for itself.  In ten years 7% of residential fires involved homes with fire sprinklers installed.  Of those, 92% of fires were controlled by a single sprinkler head.  The other 8% involved flammable liquid spills, which took three or more sprinkler heads to extinguish-but ultimately, those fires were controlled as well.

The average damages for homes with fire sprinklers installed were $1,945. Compared to damages in homes without fire sprinklers, which came to $17,067.  Although less than half of homes were fitted with fire sprinklers-the ordinance covered new construction only-the town experienced only a quarter of the fire damage seen in neighboring towns of similar sizes in the last year of the study.

Scottsdale serves as an important example of what can happen when a strong public education campaign is paired with support from lawmakers and officials.  Millions of dollars in property damage and more than a few lives were saved as a result of their aggressive fire safety campaign.