BY MORNING SENTINEL STAFF

Assistant Fire Marshal Joseph E. Thomas said the decline in fire deaths since the 1970s can be largely attributed to the use of smoke alarms, which are designed to warn families in time to allow them to escape a fire.

If the number of fire deaths is to continue to decline significantly, Thomas said the use of new technology will be necessary: namely sprinkler systems.

Eric J. Ellis, fire protection engineer at the Office of the Fire Marshal, said a growing number of studies shows that sprinkler systems greatly reduce the likelihood of fatal fires.

There are about 3,000 fire deaths a year in the United States, about 80 percent of which occur in people's homes, said Ellis.

Of those deaths, Ellis said, about 50 percent would not have occurred if the home had been equipped with a working smoke detector. Studies indicate that over 90 percent would not have occurred if the home had both a working sprinkler system and a smoke alarm, he said.

One study of Scottsdale, Ariz., found that after an ordinance required all homes built in that city to be equipped with sprinklers, there was a dramatic decline in the number of fire deaths.

Over a 15-year period, the study found that the fire death rate was reduced by about 50 percent, saving an estimated 13 lives, and that sprinkler systems reduced fire damages by over 90 percent.

More information about sprinkler systems can be found on the Web site of the Maine Office of the Fire Marshal, at www.maine.gov/dps/fmo/index.htm.