Fire Departments Set Fires to Educate Public About Preventing Fires During Fire Prevention Month

ORLAND PARK, Ill., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- During national Fire Prevention Week (October 9-15) and Fire Prevention Month, many fire departments throughout Illinois will be taking a different approach to public fire prevention education by actually setting fires. They will set the fires as demonstrations designed to educate the public about the important life- and property-saving benefits of fire sprinklers.

These live fire and sprinkler burn demonstrations are being conducted with assistance from the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB). Each side-by-side-comparison demonstration will feature two similarly furnished rooms — one with fire sprinklers and one without fire sprinklers. Audiences will be able to feel the extreme heat and view the quick growth of fire in the unprotected room and compare it with the quick response and cooling action of the fire sprinkler in the other room. The demonstrations also allow fire departments to talk to attendees about pre-fire planning, smoke alarms and escape planning.

"Due to movie myths, there is a lot of misinformation about home fire sprinklers, such as that they can be activated by smoke or they all go off at once," says fire safety advocate and NIFSAB Executive Director Tom Lia. "These demonstrations allow fire departments to show their communities how fire sprinklers truly work and how they go a step beyond smoke alarms and actually control or extinguish fires."

Over 100 Illinois communities now require fire sprinklers in new construction homes — and many more require them in new multifamily and commercial buildings — because they not only protect occupants and property, but also the lives of first responders.

Below is a list of fire and sprinkler burn demonstrations occurring during the month of October:

• Wed., Oct. 5: Warrenville Fire Protection District
• Sat., Oct. 8: Alsip, Bartlett Fire Protection District, Beach Park, Coal City Fire Protection District, Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District, Plainfield Fire Protection District, Streamwood, Wilmington Fire Protection District
• Wed., Oct. 12: Berkeley, Downers Grove
• Thur., Oct. 13: Westchester
• Sat., Oct. 15: Hinsdale, La Grange Park, Park Forest, Romeoville, St. Charles, Stickney, Westmont
• Sun., Oct. 16: Grayslake
• Fri., Oct. 21: Hampshire Fire Protection District
• Sat., Oct. 22: Wauconda Fire District

Additional fire departments throughout Illinois will be hosting live burns in fire sprinkler demonstration trailers provided by the Northern Illinois Fire Inspectors Association, Illinois Fire Inspectors Association, Lake County Fire Chiefs Association, and NIFSAB.

NIFSAB plans to assist with 53 side-by-side fire and sprinkler burn demonstrations in 2016, along with 38 fire sprinkler trailer demonstrations. That would bring NIFSAB's total side-by-sides in the last decade to 609.

For times and locations of these demonstrations, please visit www.firesprinklerassocnewsletters.org/index.php/fire-departments-set-fires-to-educate-public-about-preventing-fires-during-fire-prevention-month or call NIFSAB at (708) 878-8658.

About the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)
NIFSAB is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting progressive legislation, raising public awareness, and educating code officials and governmental policy makers by demonstrating the proven performance of fire sprinklers in saving both lives and property. For more info, visit www.firesprinklerassoc.org.

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SOURCE Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)