I have to preface this information with a little information. The following facts/statistics are from 2008 and are from the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association. A residential fire include but are not limited to all of the following structures: one- and two-family dwellings (including manufactured homes), apartments, hotels, motels, college dormitories, boarding houses, etc.
In 2008 there were approximately 403,000 reported fires in residential structures.
These were directly responsible for 2,780 deaths and 13,560 injuries.
Approximately 8.5 billion dollars of damage was accredited to these fires.
Property losses are estimated to be 85% less in structures that are sprinkled.
Overall injuries and loss of life are estimated to be 50% less in sprinkled buildings.
Sprinkler head failure is often compared to water heater failure and, indeed, the clean up costs due to failure are similar. The over riding factor in comparison is that the rate failure of a modern water heater is approximately 10 in every 700 (Insurance claim statistics reported by the Institute for Business and Home Safety). One more fact to ponder, the lifespan of a water heater is 10.7 years on average as compared to 50 years for a sprinkler head.
Jack Gilleland
Home Inspection Services, Clayton
Quality Commercial and Residential Inspections
Comments(12)