Underappreciated Improvements in Fire Safety

Over the past 100 years, the U.S. death rate from accidental fires has dropped roughly 90%. About 100 years ago, some 9,000 people died in fires every year; today, there are about 3,000 fire deaths a year. One of the most underappreciated improvements I can think of is Dan Madrakowski at NIST. He's a fire protection engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.