A well-planned program takes a minimum of several months to execute. Even a year's time is not unusual. There are occasions where a fire loss stirs a community to action and the chief can push a sprinkler ordinance through. But this is the exception, not the rule. In most cases where fire officials moved quickly to adopt ordinances, they have either failed or created backlashes that damaged their credibility. When this happens it becomes all the more difficult to start another sprinkler initiative.
One reason for taking sufficient time is the needed to educate. Education is a critical element in the process, but it takes time and patience. Also, it is more effective when done in stages. An example is educating policy makers. In some cases, fire officials have successfully combined educational sessions and ordinance adoptions on the same agenda, but those cases are the exception. The more successful approach is to do separate educational sessions. Also, the session should be scheduled long enough before a voting session so that the fire official can respond to the inevitable questions that will come up.