Firefighters demonstrate speed of fire, effectiveness of in-home sprinklers

TOWN OF WAUKESHA -- Fire Prevention Week kicked off with a big message Saturday, and it centered around smoke detectors. Not just encouraging people to have them in their homes... But to do everything they can to make sure those smoke detectors are working. That's a message firefighters all over the area want people to hear.

\"More times than not, folks who have a working smoke detector you'll get there and you'll find people standing outside instead of in their home.\" said Town of Waukesha Fire Chief Dan Buchholtz.



Fire doesn't wait for people to notice it before spreading.

And people saw how quickly it can move at this demonstration Saturday in the Town of Waukesha.



Dan Gengler

National Fire Sprinkler Association



\"The fact of the matter is everybody, and this is everybody, says it won't happen to me and they get complacent in their homes.\" said Dan Gengler from the National Fire Sprinkler Association.



The demonstration had two makeshift rooms set up with furniture.

One room had a sprinkler system, but this room, like most homes, did not.





\"We're trying to educate people on how rapidly fire does escalate, how quickly it grows.\" said Buchholtz.



Not long after the smoke detector went off in this room, the sprinkler system kicked on and knocked the fire out.

In the room without the sprinkler, all that's left is a charred frame of a couch.





\"It does save lives. The cost of a sprinkler system, yes costly, but it's usually not a whole lot more than putting carpet in your home.\" said Gengler.