Our Mission
The Alliance for Fire and Smoke Containment and Control was established in 1999 by
building enforcement, construction, design, and manufacturing professionals in response
to the need for a well-coordinated, educational effort to promote the value of a balanced
fire protection design in the built environment. The charter members are companies,
organizations, and individuals within the construction industry who share the following goals:
- To promote fire and smoke resistant construction as part of a balanced design approach;
- To promote fire and smoke protection in the built environment;
- To promote property protection and public welfare as well as life safety;
- To educate and inform code officials and designers on fire and smoke protection issues;
- To promote fire fighter safety and facilitate fire fighting activities.
Latest NFPA statistics show 90% performance reliability for automatic sprinklers
recent articles [ view all articles ]
- Code officials comment on importance of fire compartmentation as necessary complement to automatic sprinklers
- Doubts expressed on long-term safety of buildings with performance-based design for life safety (from the UK) (October 10, 2011)
- Why you don’t run when you hear the fire alarm (May 20, 2011)
- Large regional mall in CA suffers tens of millions of dollars in damage when sprinklers are shut during fire (October 21, 2010)
- Study demonstrates benefits of balanced fire protection design for dorm safety (March 31, 2010)
- Is sprinkler-washed tempered glass as safe as fire-rated glass? (December 2008)
- Clarifying the issue of fire protection balance - Fire Engineering Magazine Nov 2003 (November 2003)
- Refurb may be factor in tower fire tragedy: Building experts question why fatal blaze was able to spread so quickly (July 10, 2009)
- NFPA: U.S. Experience with Sprinklers and Other Fire Extinguishing Equipment (January 2009)
- NFPA: Sprinkler Errata (January 2009)
- NFPA: Printable fact sheet on sprinklers (January 2009)
- Safer Buildings Are Goal of New Code Changes Based on Recommendations from NIST World Trade Center Investigation (October 1, 2008)
- Sprinkler Trade-Offs by Occupancy Type from the 2006 International Building Code (IBC) (October 2008)
- Sprinkler trade-offs: An Editorial from Fire Safety & Technology Bulletin (October 2008)
- Woman dies of smoke inhalation on 3rd floor due to 5th floor fire (October 3, 2008)
- Effort to Ease Skyscraper Codes Fails (September 20, 2008)
- Senator Clinton Blasts Government Agency's Opposition to Post-9/11 Safety Standards for New Skyscrapers (September 10, 2008)
- NY Times: GSA and BOMA working to repeal stronger safety requirements for skyscrapers (September 7, 2008)
- On Smoke Control by Pressurization in Stairwells and Elevator Shafts (August 8, 2008)
- Homeland Security: New Metal Theft Threatens ESS
- Lack of regular inspection, testing, and maintenance can compromise the performance of fire-protection devices and have deadly results (June 2008)
- Low water pressure and overwhelmed sprinkler system contribute to large loss at Universal Studios Hollywood (6/2/2008)
- Latest NFPA statistics show 90% performance reliability for automatic sprinklers (March / April 2008)
- Fire Sprinklers in New Construction (3/13/2008)
- Have we gone too far for cost vs. safety? (12/12/2007)
- Do sprinklered fires eliminate the need for smoke control?
- AFSCC Appoints New Executive Director (9/2/2007)
- It Is About Time-- Direct Impact of World Trade Center Report Affects All Firefighters (6/14/2007)
- January 2007 Fire Engineering Magazine Article - Code Developments: Whose Battlefield Is This?
- "Defective sprinklers spur fire officials to push for backups" - "Defective sprinklers still in use." (2/12/2006)
- Building Operating Management Article "Squelching Fire Safety Risks"
- Statement by Jon S. Traw before the ICC Code Technology Committee (July 20, 2005)