The Bremerton Fire Department, Kitsap County Fire Chiefs’ Association, Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Bremerton Housing Authority teamed up to demonstrate the effectiveness of home sprinkler systems in a controlled fire exercise Friday, June 26 in an old Westpark housing unit on Arsenal Way in Bremerton.

BHA made the units available for the demonstration and large portions of each units’ exterior walls were removed so the public could view the exercise. Sprinkler systems were installed by SprinX Fire Protection of Gig Harbor in two of the units, while two units did not have sprinklers.

Kitsap County Fire Marshal David Lynam narrated the event as officials first ignited an unsprinklered unit, then lit an identical blaze in an adjacent unit that was outfitted with a residential sprinkler system.

The fire exercise was designed to show the public how quickly fire sprinklers work to squelch a fire, giving people more time to escape burning buildings.