NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 24

Outreach by Lorraine Carli

ADVOCACY,
LEGISLATION,
AND PUBLIC
EDUCATION

Falling Short
A SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL'S DEATH IN A CONNECTICUT HOUSE FIRE UNDERSCORES THE NEED
FOR CODE-MAKING BODIES NATIONWIDE TO EMBRACE HOME FIRE SPRINKLERS

aybe this time Connecti-

percent, according to NFPA studies. We
cut can get it right.
know that the majority of fire deaths and
Since 2010, the state's
injuries in this country occur in homes;
code-making body has
even so, too many homes today are still
decided against adopting
built without sprinklers. The home in
a home fire sprinkler requirement every
Connecticut, built by Habitat for Humantime it has updated the state building
ity only a few months before the fire, did
code, even though a provision mandatnot have sprinklers installed. The tragedy
ing home fire sprinklers in new one- and
painfully rebukes the notion put forward
two-family homes has been included in
by builders that new homes don't burn.
every model building code since 2009.
Imagine if authorities having jurisdicDuring that time, legislation requiring
tion had adopted the sprinkler provisions
States throughout
the installation of fire sprinklers in
from the model building codes, and that
the country have
new homes has also been defeated in
all new one- and two-family homes built
Connecticut, with help from local fire
since 2010 were equipped with home
repeatedly prohibited
sprinkler opponents. As you read this,
fire sprinklers. That amounts to more
sprinkler installation,
the state is again considering the sprinthan 5.5 million new homes protected
despite model code
kler requirement.
by automatic fire sprinklers nationwide,
requirements.
I thought of all this and more recently
according to housing data from the U.S.
as I travelled to Plainfield, Connecticut,
Census Bureau. Imagine if all homes
to join the local fire service and the
built by Habitat for Humanity, like the
greater fire safety community to mourn
one in Connecticut, included home fire
the death of a six-year-old girl who had
sprinklers. That would mean vastly
died in a house fire a few weeks earlier. The girl's family had improved fire protection for thousands of families, many
moved into a new house only a few months before, and I of whom are part of a demographic that faces a historically
tried to imagine the special joy they must have felt, as well as higher risk of fire.
the terror they experienced during the fire and the loss they
Instead, code-making bodies continue to punt on the issue,
endured now. The blaze, which may have been sparked by a and Connecticut is hardly alone. States throughout the counmalfunctioning kitchen appliance, according to the town's try have repeatedly prohibited sprinkler installation, despite
fire marshal, ripped through the home in minutes, trapping model code requirements. Like Connecticut, they fall short
a mother and her two children. By the time first responders in their responsibility to ensure new homes meet a certain
arrived, the home was engulfed in flames. Police managed to level of safety. They fall short in their responsibility to protect
pull the mother and her young son out of a bedroom window, citizens, and they fall short in their responsibility to protect
and both suffered critical injuries. The six-year-old girl, inves- the firefighters who must deal with the consequences.
tigators said, could not be rescued. Her body was found in
We urge decision makers in Connecticut and around the
the living room.
country to require fire sprinklers in all new homes and to
Her death is tragic, but it's even more upsetting when you stop allowing the construction of substandard homes, a move
realize that we have long had the knowledge and technology to that would save lives for generations to come. We should not
prevent these kinds of events. Simple and inexpensive devices have to imagine a future where no one dies of a fire in their
called home fire sprinklers have protected people and property home-that future can and should be a reality.
in all kinds of buildings for more than 100 years. When installed
in homes, they can reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by 80 LORRAINE CARLI is vice president of outreach and advocacy for NFPA.

24 | NFPA JOURNAL * M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7

MICHAEL HOEWELER

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - May/June 2017