Fires, Fire Loss, and Fire Sprinkler Performance and Effectiveness 

This session reviews fire history (past and present), including common occupancies, areas of origin, frequent months, days, and time of day. It also reviews fire sprinkler performance for recent years. Metrics showing fire sprinkler effectiveness will be identified. Reasons for sprinkler ineffectiveness and failures will also be discussed with the goal of identifying measures that could increase sprinkler reliability during installation, and ongoing inspection, testing, and maintenance.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the attendee will be able to:
1. Recognize common factors of fires such as month of year, day of week, time of day, type of occupancy, and area of origin
2. Describe fire prevention and fire protection goals and objectives
3. Analyze fire sprinkler performance and identify indicators of positive fire sprinkler performance
4. Identify conditions where fire sprinklers were not effective or where they failed to operate

Codes, Standards, and References used in the presentation:

• International Fire Code (Chapter 9)

• NFPA 13:

  • Intent and purpose requirement (varies depending on the edition year)

  • Installation chapter (varies depending on the edition year)

• NFPA 25:

  • Maintenance requirements to improve reliability

• NFPA 13E:

  • Fire department response to sprinkler-protected properties

• National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) of the United States Fire Administration (USFA)

Course numbers: ICC-49006, SFMO-3795

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