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Jim Estepp says his boss, at first, thought that Estepp had lost his mind. But it didn't take long for Prince George's County Executive Parris Glendening to be convinced enough to take the fire chief's idea of mandatory sprinklers to the County Council.


The year was 1987, and just like today, Estepp says there was strong opposition from the home building industry. "I remember the Washington Post editorial that said if you adopt this ordinance somebody is going to be fixing breakfast and they are going to get wet".

Despite opposition, Prince George's County became the first county in the country to mandate sprinklers in all new single-family homes. The requirement was phased in by 1992.

Now, a new study puts a big smile on the face of Estepp, who later became public safety director and a council member. It shows no one has died from a fire in any of those sprinklered homes. In the same 15-year period covered by the study, 101 people died in county homes without sprinklers.

"We said it was going to save lives and 20-years-later we were proved to be exactly right", Estepp said during a sprinkler demonstration Wednesday at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI) in College Park.

MFRI's director, Steve Edwards, was the PGFD chief in 1992 when the law took effect. Edwards says their study of fire fatalities showed as good as the fire department was, and as fast as they responded, it was not good enough.

The report, covering the years 1992 to 2007, was prepared by Steve Weatherby, a captain at the Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company in Baltimore County, as part of his studies at the University of Maryland University College. It was produced in cooperation with the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, PGFD and the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.

According to the study, there were only six injuries in 245 fires in the sprinklered homes. In the more than 13,000 fires in non-spinklered homes there were 328 injuries.

"The data is very clear", according to Eugene Jones, PGFD's current chief. Even though the issue was fought in his county long before he took office, Chief Jones believes the study could help as the International Code Council again considers the issue on October 28 in Baltimore. Homebuilders are trying to reverse a victory for the fire service last year in Minneapolis.

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) has long advocated that residential sprinklers should not be mandatory. They have cited added costs to new homes, water damage and concerns that the sprinklers aren't proven. NAHB was contacted for this story, but did not respond by deadline.

In Wednesday's demonstration Maryland State Fire Marshal Bill Barnard point to the limited damage in the sprinklered room compared to an identical room without a sprinkler. The study shows that on average a fire in a sprinklered home caused $4883 in property loss compared to $9983 in a non-sprinklered home. That number jumps to almost $50,000 in homes where there was a fire fatality.

Another former Prince George's County fire chief at the demonstration, Ron Siarnicki, says it isn't only about the safety of the public. Currently the executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Siarnicki makes the point that firefighters lives can also be saved by residential sprinklers.

MFRI's Edwards believes a sprinkler system is like having a firefighter in your home.