Firefighters promoting home fire sprinklers

ONALASKA, Wisconsin (WXOW) - "Nobody or nothing alive can survive a flashing," said Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick.

This is the scene less than three minutes into a demonstration put on by the Onalaska Fire Department. To kick off Fire Prevention Week, firefighters showed the difference between a home with a sprinkler system and one without.

Dominick said, "What it does is give a simple demonstration of first of all how quickly fires develop in the home and also how the utilization of residential fire sprinklers make an impact on the saving of lives as well as property."

Three and a half minutes is all the more time this demonstration takes. The room without fire sprinklers is almost unrecognizable. The room with suffered only minor water damage. Some communities are now even going as far as requiring home sprinklers.

"Scottsdale, Arizona for example, hasn't had a person die in a house fire since that's been put in," Dominick said.

That's not to say there isn't opposition. The La Crosse Area Builders Association said residential sprinklers would greatly increase the cost of building a home. Chief Dominick said he's done extensive research on the subject and that the sprinklers are cost effective.

Dominick said, "As a matter of fact, one of the educational experts at NFPA did her new home, and the price for totally sprinkling her new home as it was being built was the same price as the next upgrade of carpeting."

No matter the cost, Dominick said fire sprinklers often mean the difference between life or death.

"This not only makes a savings for lives and property, but it's also making it safe for the firefighters who go in and put the fires out."

This demonstration was made possible thanks to a $1,000 grant from the national nonprofit organization, the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition.

Source - https://www.wxow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13258219