National Home Fire Sprinkler week is May 19 - 25. Most fires occur in the home and the majority of fire deaths occur in residential fires. Residential fires burn hotter and faster than ever before due to the high amount of plastics and synthetics in every home. Twenty years ago you had more time to escape a home when a fire occurred. The furniture and coverings where made of natural fibers and took longer to burn. You had 10 minutes to escape a home before the fire had a chance to grow deadly. Today most homes are outfitted in plastics and synthetics that will ignite quickly. A house can be consumed by deadly toxic gases in minutes. A room on fire will flashover and burn out of control in 2 to 3 minutes. There is no time to hesitate once the smoke alarm sounds. Fires turn deadly in minutes and children and the elderly are most at risk. Smoke alarms will alert you that a fire is occurring but they do not provide you more time to escape. A residential fire sprinkler system is the only life saving tool that will slow or many times stop a fire in its tracks allowing you precious time to escape. Park Forest has adopted a fire code that requires all new homes to be built with a residential sprinkler system. Existing homes can be retrofitted with a fire sprinkler system. Your risk of dying in a residential fire drops by 85% in a home protected with a fire sprinkler system. It is like having a firefighter in every room ready to extinguish a fire when it starts before it gets a chance to grow out of control. Take time to learn about fire sprinklers today.