NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 57

of wildland fires and catastrophic
multiple-death fires. The authors make
ample use of the NFPA Fire & Life
Safety Ecosystem to identify successes
and trouble spots in the story thus
far, and to help identify areas of focus
ranging from at-risk populations to
emerging technologies.
" The future work and challenges
discussed [in this report] can all be
dealt with using this system thinkrequiring
hard-wired smoke alarms,
automatic sprinklers, and compartmentation
in the construction of the units.
All of these features have a marked
effect on the fire safety of high-rise
apartments, especially compared to
one- and two-family homes.
The study found that sprinklers
were present in 21 percent of reported
high-rise fires in 1985-1989 and in
48 percent in 2014-2018. Similarly,
The detail and context that exist throughout
" Fire Safety in the United States Since 1980 " make
the report a must-read for all stakeholders in the
battle against home structure fires.
ing [illustrated by the NFPA Fire &
Life Safety Ecosystem], " Ahrens and
Messerschmidt write. " Approaching
fire safety as a system, and not individual
bits and pieces, provides the
opportunity to unravel this complex
and ongoing challenge to society and
reduce further loss. "
That encompassing approach means
the report serves as a detailed road
map to further advance fire and life
safety, according to Lorraine Carli, vice
president of Outreach and Advocacy at
NFPA. " Just as 'America Burning' identified
the risks of the times and ushered
in a new level of prevention and action,
this is the next seminal body of work
that clearly acknowledges progress,
identifies the lessons learned, and provides
direction to make the next steps
forward in every piece of the NFPA Fire
& Life Safety Ecosystem, " Carli said.
DATA AND DETAILS
An especially revealing aspect of the
NFPA report is its examination of highrise
apartment fires and the impact
that fire protection technologies can
have on limiting deaths, injuries, and
property loss. As the authors point out,
apartments are more regulated than
one- and two-family homes, and highrise
apartments-defined in the NFPA
study as seven stories or more above
grade-are even more regulated, often
detection in reported high-rise fires
increased during that same period,
from 67 percent to 93 percent. Those
protection increases corresponded with
a drop in the number of reported highrise
fires during that same period, from
10,400 to 8,600; a drop in the annual
number of fire deaths in high-rise fires
(62 to 29); and a drop in the annual
deaths per 1,000 reported high-rise
fires (6.0 to 3.4). The report also finds
that in 2014-2018, fire spread was
confined to the room of origin in 98
percent of reported fires in sprinklered
high-rise apartments and in 94 percent
of reported fires when the apartments
were unsprinklered.
For the most part, the high-rise data
corresponded with trends in overall
home structure fires from 1980 to 2018.
Reported annual home structure fires
during that period fell from 734,000
to 363,000; associated deaths fell from
5,200 annually to 2,720; and associated
injuries dropped from 19,700 to 11,200.
But by one critical measure, high-rise
apartments have far outpaced one- and
two-family homes in the level of safety
they provide occupants.
In 1980, deaths per 1,000 reported
home structure fires were 7.1 for all
types of homes, but in 2018 the deaths
per 1,000 reported fires in one- and
two-family homes had increased to 8.5-
meaning anyone with a reported fire in
that occupancy stood a greater chance of
dying in the fire than they did nearly 40
years ago. Additionally, by 2018 the overall
rate of deaths per 1,000 reported fires
in all homes had also increased, to 7.5.
Of the broad categories, only apartments
had experienced a decrease, to a rate of
4.2 deaths per 1,000 reported fires in
2018, driven in part by the high-rise rate
of 3.4. The data presents an unambiguous
conclusion: protection technologies
like those found in high-rise apartments
save lives and protect property, and
their inclusion in one- and two-family
homes would represent a significant step
toward reducing one of the most difficult
aspects of the country's fire problem.
This kind of detail and context exist
throughout " Fire Safety in the United
States Since 1980 " and make the report
a must-read for all stakeholders in the
battle against home structure fires. The
" twin tides of ignorance and indifference "
cited in " America Burning " are
alive and well, and while the macro view
of home structure fires over the past 40
years is largely positive, numerous forces
are at work that could hinder or even
reverse some of those hard-fought gains.
For Messerschmidt, those challenges
add up to a key takeaway that makes
the NFPA report essential reading.
" We spent a year putting this report
together, and I was frankly surprised
by a lot of what we uncovered, " said
Messerschmidt, whose " Research "
column in this issue ( " Older, Alone, and
at Risk " ) takes a closer look at one of
the troubling trends highlighted by the
data-the rise of fire deaths occurring
among older people, especially those
who live alone. " When you look at this
problem over this span of time, you
see how opportunistic fire can be-we
make progress in one area only to have
fire move somewhere else and create
an entirely new set of problems and
concerns. And you see how fragile so
many of those gains are, and how easily
they can be undone. I hope readers of
this report appreciate what we've managed
to do in the last 40 years, and that
they see how critical it is that we keep
making progress. "
SCOTT SUTHERLAND is the executive editor
of NFPA Journal.
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

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