EVOLVING FIRE RISK FACTORS Technologies and Habits Figure in 40-year Safety Profile of Multifamily Buildings THE ADVENT of sprinklers and dropoff in smokers are two of the most influential fire risk factors in multifamily buildings over the past 40 years. A recently released study of U.S. statistics and trends from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) concludes that the combination of improved suppression and ignition source depletion has reduced the likelihood of fire-related fatalities within residential high-rises, and all dwellings in general, since 1980. However, analysts highlight other emerging concerns over the same period, tied to an aging population and new types of household furnishings. “The NFPA Fire & Life Safety analysis shows that the most successful recipe for fire safety in the built environment is the implementation of fire safety technologies through mandated codes and standards,”
assert the study’s authors, Marty Ahrens and Birgitte Messerschmidt. “Most of the common causes of fire are related to human actions or lack thereof. One of the ways to tackle this issue is with continued public education alerting people to the potential dangers of fire and how to prevent them. Another method is reducing the ignition risk by utilizing fire safety standards specific to the products involved.” The latter tact includes product standards related to cigarette ignition, the ease of operability of disposable lighters, and the ignition point, f la me height and uprightness of candles. Notably, annual deaths in the U.S. attributable to playing with fire dropped from 410 in 1994, at the time consumer protection standards for disposable lighters were introduced, to 50 in 2018.
20 October/November 2021 | Canadian Property Management
In addition, new technologies, energy efficiency directives and evolving consumer preferences have brought LED lighting to replace the incandescent and ha logen bulbs t hat ca n become hazardously hot, and to carve out a growing market share for artificial candles. Although not applicable to multifamily buildings, the study’s authors also credit the surging popularity of gas fireplaces for fewer fires due to castoff burning embers or creosote buildup in chimneys of wood-burning fireplaces. SPRINKLERS BOLSTER SURVIVAL The data shows impressive life safety performance for sprinklers. Overall, Ahrens and Messerschmidt calculate firerelated death rates in the 2014-2018 period were 86% lower in homes with sprinklers, and high-rise dwellers were
