Fire officials urge broad smoke detector and sprinkler usage

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Two deadly fires, just five days apart, claimed 29 lives in 2022. A year later, fire officials gathered in Washington, D.C. to remember the 2022 fires in Philadelphia and New York.

Officials said the 29 lives lost, many children, serve as a stark reminder of the importance of working smoke detectors and sprinkler systems.

The Vice President of the National Fire Protection Association, Lorraine Carli, said the data shows that people in a building with sprinklers have an 89% greater chance of surviving a fire.

Carli said, “Sprinklers in building provide an essential element of safety. They help extinguish fires or keep them small. So that people can escape quicker, have more time to escape, and give the first responders a head start on fires.”

Thursday’s press conference also highlighted policies that mandate smoke detectors in public housing that cannot be tampered with, officials called those a positive step toward helping save lives. Officials also called for a number of other things like removal of highly flammable chemicals from common household products, removal of cancer-linked materials from firefighting protective gear, and stronger training to fight wildfires.

Copyright 2023 Gray DC. All rights reserved.