Washington, D.C. – Congressmen John Larson (D-CT) and Peter King (R-NY) introduced H.R. 4491, the Nursing Home Fire Safety Act, on December 8th. The legislation would establish a low interest loan program and a targeted needs-based grant program to help nursing homes install fire sprinklers.
On February 26, 2003, a fire at a Hartford, Connecticut, nursing facility without an automatic fire sprinkler system claimed the lives of 16 patients. Also on September 27, 2003, a fire at a Nashville, Tennessee, nursing home without an automatic fire sprinkler system claimed the lives of 15 patients. In a June 2004 report, the GAO found that “the substantial loss of life in the Hartford and Nashville fires could have been reduced or eliminated by the presence of properly functioning automatic sprinkler systems,” and that “federal oversight of nursing home compliance with fire safety standards is inadequate.”
“The Hartford and Nashville fires demonstrated the terrible and unacceptable consequences of ignoring this issue,” Congressman Larson said. “While Tennessee and Connecticut took steps to increase fire safety in nursing homes as a result of these tragic events, the federal government has only taken small steps to increase fire safety. Protecting nursing home residents from fire is a shared responsibility between the long term care industry and the federal government.”
There has never been a multiple death fire in a nursing facility equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system. An estimated 1.5 million Americans reside in nursing facilities nationwide, and 20 to 30 percent of those lack an automatic fire sprinkler system.
