The RFSI, formerly known as Operation Life Safety (OLS), is an outgrowth of Operation San Francisco, the name given to a series of tests conducted in 1983 of the then new residential sprinkler technology. The U. S. Fire Administration teamed up with the Marriott Corporation, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the sprinkler industry to do full scale tests in a San Francisco hotel that was scheduled for demolition. The tests confirmed the effectiveness of residential sprinklers in saving lives and property, and the group created OLS to educate the fire service about residential sprinklers. The name changed from OLS to the Residential Fire Safety Institute and aligned itself with the National Association of State Fire Marshals in 1999. When a fire official decides to promote a sprinkler ordinance, the RFSI can send a representative to assist. The RFSI is still a public/private partnership, and is funded by the U. S. Fire Administration and private industry.
Assisting fire officials with implementing fire sprinkler programs is central to the RFSI mission. The RFSI consults with fire officials on strategic planning, provides educational workshops and assists with presentations to policy makers. The RFSI maintains a database of sprinkler ordinances in the US and Canada, which gives fire officials a wealth of information on the language and scope of existing ordinances. For more information about these services, see the contact information at the end of this document.