Fire Protection for One and Two Family Dwellings

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Fire Protection for One and Two Family Dwellings

• Murphy Fire Department

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2007 Fires In Texas Annual Fire Statistics
Report

• 69 of citizen fire deaths in Texas occurred in
  residential dwellings.
• 100 of firefighter on-duty deaths occurred in
  residential dwellings.
• 79 of all structure fires (16,398) in Texas
  occurred in residential dwellings.
• Total of 138 fire related deaths in Texas.
• 95 residential fire deaths in Texas.
• State Fire Marshals Office, Texas Department of
  Insurance, September 2008

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2007 Fires In Texas Annual Fire Statistics Report

• U.S. Reports
• 1,557,500 total fires
• 3,430 citizen fire deaths (84 occurred in
  homes)
• 17,675 citizen fire injuries
• Texas Reports
• 73,704 total fires
• 20,819 structure fires
• 16,398 residential structure fires
• 138 citizen fire deaths (69 occurred in homes)
• 683 citizen fire injuries
• Collin County
• Ranked 10th in state with 394 structure fires
• State Fire Marshals Office, Texas Department of
  Insurance, September 2008

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2007 Fires in Texas Annual Fire Statistics Report

• 34 of all residential fires started in the
  kitchen.
• 10 of all residential fires started in the
  bedroom.
• Cooking 1 leading cause of residential fires
  (causing 3 deaths and 78 injuries).
• Heating and smoking tied for 2nd leading cause of
  residential fires.
• State Fire Marshals Office, Texas Department of
  Insurance, September 2008

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2007 Fires in Texas Annual Fire Statistics Report

• 79 of Firefighter injuries occurred in
  residential occupancies.
• 100 of Firefighter deaths occurred in
  residential occupancies.
• Citizens at highest risk of injury and death
• 1 65 years
• 2 - 55-64 years
• 3 45-54 years
• 4 children lt4 years

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Contributing Factors

• Homes are larger with complex interiors.
• Smaller homes burn faster, decreasing escape time
  and producing comparable amounts of smoke in a
  smaller space.
• Lightweight construction endangers occupants and
  firefighters (sprinklers can help protect
  lightweight construction so occupants can
  escape).
• Smoke alarms alone may not provide adequate
  warning in time for occupants to escape.
• New studies are now showing that many children
  and teens may not wake up to the sound of smoke
  alarms.

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Major Fires in One- and Two-Family Dwellings

• Life safety risks to citizens and firefighters
  because of larger size and complexity of
  interiors
• Excessive storage of combustible materials/
  housekeeping issues
• Light weight flooring and truss construction
  found in dwellings today

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Wood Frame Construction
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Wood Frame Construction
Wood Truss
Second Floor
Wood I-Beams fail in fire causing structural
collapse
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Wood Frame ConstructionTypical Beam Hanger
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Truss Construction with Metal Gusset Plates
Gusset plates fail in fire conditions causing
structural failure in buildings
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Large Size and Complexity of Interiors

• Without Sprinklers

• With Sprinklers

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Large Size and Complexity of Interiors
Typical and large combustible residential
structures without sprinklers
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The Facts

• Based on full-scale tests, the available time to
  escape a flaming fire in a home has decreased
  significantly from 17 minutes ( 6 minutes) in
  1975 to 3 minutes ( ½ minute) in 2003.
• Flashover easily reaches 378ºF at floor level
  (1100ºF at ceiling) often within 3-5 minutes.
• A survivable atmosphere is
• gt14 oxygen
• lt150ºF
• lt10,000 ppm carbon monoxide

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Flashover

• People and contents cannot survive flashover
  conditions.
• Toxic smoke from fires most often kills occupants
  before flames do.

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How long have we known this?

• The Commission on Fire Prevention and Control
  has made a good beginning, but it cannot do our
  work for us. Only people can prevent fires. We
  must become constantly alert to the threat of
  fires to ourselves, our children, and our homes.
  Fire is almost always the result of human
  carelessness. Each one of us must become aware
  not for a single time, but for all the year of
  what he or she can do to prevent fires.
• President Richard Nixon
• September 7, 1972

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The Most Effective Way to Save Lives and Property
During Fires in Residential Occupancies

• Install Residential Fire Sprinklers in all one-
  and two-family dwellings.

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Residential Sprinkler Systems

• Aids in the detection and control of residential
  fires and provides improved protection against
  injury, life loss, and property damage.
• Designed to prevent flashover (total involvement
  of fire) in the room of origin and to improve the
  chance for occupants to escape or be evacuated.
• Intended to SAVE LIVES FIRST property second.

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Residential Fire Sprinkler System Advantages

• Sprinklers detect the fires and start
  extinguishment prior to arrival of fire
  department.
• Only the sprinkler closest to the fire will
  activate, spraying water directly on the fire and
  cooling the area to prevent flashover.
• 98 of all fires in residences are controlled by
  the activation of one sprinkler head.
• Sprinkler systems are always in service.
• Residential sprinkler systems do not require
  maintenance.
• Assists fire department before the engine even
  arrives.

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Residential Fire Sprinkler System Advantages
7-18 gallons per minute
125-250 gallons per minute

• A fire sprinkler uses on average 341 gallons of
  water to control a fire.

• Firefighters on average use 2,935 gallons of
  water to control a fire.

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Residential Fire Sprinkler System Advantages

• Insurance Reductions
• State Farm Insurance 5-10 for a monitored
  system.
• Allstate Insurance up to 12 reduction for a
  monitored system.
• Chubb Insurance 10 reduction if the system is
  inspected annually.
• Travelers Insurance 10 reduction if the system
  is inspected annually.
• Nationwide Insurance 8 reduction.

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Residential Sprinkler System Costs

• Residential sprinkler system installation costs
  average 1.30 per square foot in Murphy
  (installed per NFPA 13D).
• For Example the cost of a sprinkler system in a
  home in Maxwell Creek with 3800 square feet of
  floor area will be approximately 4,940 for a new
  installation. This represents approximately 1.5
  of the overall cost of the home (advertised price
  of the home located at 604 Maize is 334,900).

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What About the Attic?

• Residential sprinkler systems are designed to
  protect life first, property second.
• NFPA 13D (Standard for the Installation of
  Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family
  Dwellings and Manufactured Homes) does not
  recommend nor require sprinklers in attics.
• Temperature must be controlled in attics (kept at
  least 40ºF year-round) or a dry or antifreeze
  system must be installed.
• Dry and antifreeze systems cost approximately
  2.50 per square foot to install, must be
  annually inspected, and are maintenance intensive.

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Sprinkler Systems and Smoke Alarms

• Installing both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler
  system reduces the risk of death in a home fire
  by 82, relative to having neither.

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Successful Residential Sprinkler Ordinances

• Scottsdale, AZ
• Zero square foot ordinance (25 remodel requires
  retrofit)
• Effective January 1, 1986
• Housing permits
• 19841689
• 19851859
• 19861614
• 19871726
• 19881289
• 2007891
• Housing permits unaffected for single family
  residences.
• Zero fire deaths in homes with sprinkler systems.
• 13 lives saved due to residential sprinkler
  systems.

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Successful Residential Sprinkler Ordinances

• Addison, TX
• 500 square foot ordinance (regardless of
  occupancy)
• Adopted 1992
• Housing permits reportedly unaffected.
• Farmers Branch, TX
• 2,500 square foot ordinance
• Adopted 2008
• Housing permits reportedly unaffected (data not
  yet calculated).
• Celina, TX
• Zero square foot ordinance
• Adopted 2008
• Housing permits reportedly unaffected (data not
  yet calculated)
• University Park, TX
• Zero square foot ordinance
• Adopted 2008
• Construction permits reportedly unaffectedno new
  construction, only remodel, demolition/re-build
  (data not yet calculated).

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

• When a house fire occurs, one- and two-family
  dwellings with a wet-pipe sprinkler system and
  smoke alarms were found, on average, to have 100
  fewer civilian fatalities, 57 fewer civilian
  injuries, and 32 less direct property loss than
  one- and two-family dwellings equipped with only
  smoke alarms.
• (Benefit-Cost Analysis of Residential Fire
  Sprinkler Systems, NIST, September 2007, NISTIR
  7451)

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International Code Council

• ICC confirmed the need for residential fire
  sprinklers with a 73 majority vote.
• 2009 International Residential Code will require
  one- and two-family dwellings to have sprinkler
  systems.
• January 1, 2011 the requirement becomes mandatory
  (the city will have to specifically omit the
  requirement from the national standard).

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Revised Sprinkler Ordinance Proposal

• All new residential occupancies, regardless of
  footage.
• Exception Detached Group U occupancies
  (garages, carports, sheds, etc.)
• Reduced from the current code requirement of
  6,000 square feet.

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Fire and Life Safety Education To Include
Sprinkler Systems

• Homebuilders
• Host educational meetings for homebuilders and
  sales staff.
• Provide resources for brochures and packets for
  the buyer/potential buyer.
• Homeowners
• Informational packets delivered personally to new
  homeowners.
• Offer sprinkler system seminars to homeowners
  directly and/or through HOAs and other
  associations.
• Annual mailing and FD website information.

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Questions?