As NFPA President James M. Shannon addressed the attendees at the opening ceremonies of the group's annual conference in Boston on Sunday, he stressed the need to support the fire service in the effort to get home fire sprinkler systems required across the county.
"The home builders lobby is doing everything it can to stop us and, as we all know, they have a lot of clout," Shannon said. His address is available on the NFPA's website.
He likened the debate to when the need for airbags in automobiles was argued. He said that the auto companies "fought tooth and nail" to keep them out and contended they would make their vehicles unaffordable.
Shannon noted that battle went on for years, though the benefits of airbags were quickly apparent after the federal government moved to mandate them.
"Who would want to be in a car without airbags today?" he asked. "Nowadays, some automobile manufacturers advertise that they have better airbags than their competitors. They now use safety as a key selling point."
He said that home builders have worked tirelessly to block home sprinkler mandates in more than 20 states, and have had some success doing so.
In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbet gave final approval to a bill that repealed the mandate that came as a result of provisions adopted by the International Code Council in 2009.
Supporters of the bill said the mandate would have added thousands of dollars to the cost of a home and that the uncertainty over the sprinkler requirement was preventing new construction.
"He took that action even though Pennsylvania had a horrible winter this year with nearly 70 fire deaths in the first three months of this year, compared to 112 in all of the previous year," Shannon said.
In March, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer passed a law that forbids cities from requiring sprinklers in single-family homes.
The new law, however, doesn't negate codes adopted by cities before 2010.
Scottsdale was the first major city in the nation to require sprinklers 20 years ago and Phoenix and Glendale have mandates for homes over 5,000 square feet.
Shannon said that there is some good news.
In January, California became the first state in the county to require sprinklers as a standard safety feature for all newly constructed homes.
In states like Montana and Minnesota, he said lawmakers are beginning to "stand up for safety against the special interests."
While fire sprinkler mandates are still struggling to gain a foothold in the U.S., Wales became the first country in the world to pass a nationwide requirement in February.
"NFPA will continue fighting these battles arm in arm with the fire service and it is clear that our message is starting to get through," he said. "I am optimistic that we will succeed in this effort the same way we have succeeded in every other important advance that we have made.
"We will marshal all of the technical arguments, we will work with our allies, we will tell the stories of those affected by fire and we will persevere until we have achieved our goal of national acceptance of residential sprinklers."
Firehouse.com Staff Writer Ed Ballam will be reporting this week from the 2011 NFPA Conference & Expo in Boston.
