Welcome to Residential Fire Safety Institute
The Residential Fire Safety Institute (RFSI) is a public interest group created in 1982 to promote fire-safe homes through built-in fire protection and fire safety education. The U.S. has one of the worst records for residential fire deaths in the industrialized world. Residential fires account for 80 percent of all fire deaths. Our mission is to improve that dubious record. Originally known as Operation Life Safety, our name changed to the Residential Fire Safety Institute in June, 1999.
This site contains information for consumers and fire departments about fire safety in all residential occupancies from single-family homes to high-rise hotels. The specific items covered are residential fire sprinklers, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and heat detectors.
Email the Residential Fire Safety Institute (RFSI) at info@firesafehome.org
Life Safety Achievement Awards Update

NASFM Fire Research & Education Foundation,
Residential Fire Safety Institute and
Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance
presents...
2009 Life Safety Achievement Award
Since 1994, the Residential Fire Safety Institute (RFSI) has recognized fire departments for having outstanding fire safety statistics and prevention programs during the preceding calendar year. In recognition of these proactive fire prevention efforts aimed at improving their community's fire and life safety behaviors, fire departments may be eligible for the Life Safety Achievement (LSA) Award.
Since inception, the Life Safety Achievement Award was granted to any fire department that achieved zero fire deaths in the previous calendar year. This is certainly a worthy goal and one that will continue, but it alone does not reflect the excellence we seek in fire prevention programs. Over the past seven years, Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company of Grinnell, Iowa, has sponsored this prestigious Award and will be doing so again this year. Recipients of the LSA Award will receive a
certificate suitable for framing that recognizes your department's accomplishments. The certificate will be signed by the President of the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) Fire Research & Education Foundation, the NASFM Fire Research & Education Foundation Executive Director and the President of Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company.
Click here to download the complete LSA Criteria description
Click here to download the LSA Application
Quick Links:
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |



You never know when or where a fire will start in your home. What if you could have a firefighter stationed in every room 24 hours a day, ready to stop a fire the minute it broke out? That is what fire sprinklers are - instant firefighters. They are installed in the ceiling or high on a wall and are attached to the same water supply that feeds your home's plumbing
fixtures. Residential fire sprinklers are small. In fact, they fit in so well that you have to point them out for people to notice them.