In 2009, the South Dakota Fire Chiefs Association voted to adopt the new residential fire sprinkler codes in their entirety.  Unfortunately HB1216, recently passed by the state legislature, prohibits communities from enacting residential sprinkler ordinances.  The SDFCA still strongly recommends that citizens consider installing residential sprinklers in their new homes or retrofitting systems in to their existing homes.   

• 8 out of 10 fire deaths occur in the home

• Fire sprinklers save lives, reduce property loss, and can even help cut homeowner insurance premiums
• Home fire sprinklers can contain and may even extinguish a fire in less time than it would take the fire department to arrive on scene
• Installing both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler system reduces the risk of home fires by 82%, relative to having neither
• Despite how they are portrayed in Hollywood movies, only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying water directly on the fire.  90% of fires are contained by the operation of just one sprinkler
• Nationally, on average, home fire sprinkler systems add 1% to 1.5% of the total building cost in new construction
• The cost to retrofit an existing home with a sprinkler system ranges from $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot
  
• Home fire sprinklers use only a small fraction of the water used by fire department hoses
• Modern residential fire sprinklers are inconspicuous and can be mounted flush with walls or ceilings