Although automatic sprinkler systems have been in use in the United States since 1874, and have a proven record of protecting life and property, a number of common misconceptions still exist about their operation and effectiveness. The Dallas-based American Fire Sprinkler Association offers the following answers to common questions about the use of automatic sprinkler systems. A: In situations where the sprinkler system was working properly, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Quincy, MA, doesn't have a record of any fire killing more than two people when it occurred in a completely sprinklered public, educational, institutional, or residential building. In cases where fatalities occur in a building equipped with fire sprinklers, the deceased were almost always in very close contact with the fire and were burned severely before the sprinkler activated (i.e. smoking in bed, explosions, etc.). Sprinklers typically reduce the chances of dying in a fire - and reduce average property loss - by one-half to two-thirds in any kind of property.
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