Your Letters
syracuse.com
(TNS)
To the Editor:
Regarding “As housing costs soar, builders balk at NY proposal to require fire sprinklers in new homes” (Dec, 10, 2024):
A recent Post-Standard/Syracuse.com article highlighted the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council’s consideration of a critical home fire safety measure: residential sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes. New York is third in the nation for home fire deaths, with 116 fatalities in 2024, and we have led the U.S. in this dubious category four times in the last 12 years. Fire deaths are significantly lower in residences with sprinkler systems. In 2021, the national fire death rate was 89% lower in structures with sprinklers than those without.
A house fire can become deadly in under two minutes. Sprinklers contain and may even extinguish a fire before the arrival of the fire department. This gives residents a chance to escape the home and minimizes fire growth and spread. Firefighters have a vested interest in this issue, as sprinkler-equipped buildings make firefighting safer and more efficient.
Data show 90% of fires in sprinklered homes are contained by the operation of just one sprinkler and only those nearest to fires activate in an emergency. Sprinklers also reduce property damage from smoke and insurance companies provide fire protection discounts for homeowners insurance.
It’s disheartening seeing sprinklers linked to contentious issues like housing costs and inventory shortages with little evidence. Nine people have died in house fires in the Syracuse area this year. Can we really place a price on saving lives?
We have a chance to be on the right side of history. Let’s create safer homes for all.
Kenneth Pienkowski
Past President, Firefighters Association of the State of New York
Taunton
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