Sept. 13 Event Will Show How Home Fire Sprinklers Protect People, Pets, and Property
Hopkinton Fire Chief Gary T. Daugherty Jr., Hopkinton firefighters, and the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services are teaming up next week to demonstrate the life-saving power of home fire sprinklers. The September 13 event will take place during Hopkinton’s Family Fun Day. It will include real fires in simulated residential environments using the Department of Fire Services’ side-by-side sprinkler trailer.
Two common household fires will be set in identical rooms, one of which is protected by home fire sprinklers. Spectators will see that sprinklers can contain or even extinguish a fire in its early stages, giving residents time to escape while firefighters respond. They will also see that an uncontrolled fire quickly spreads to consume the entire room and present deadly conditions within minutes.
WHAT: Live Home Fire Sprinkler Demonstration
WHEN: Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 3:30 pm
WHERE: Hopkinton Middle School Parking Lot
88 Hayden Rowe Street, Hopkinton, MA
Changes in building construction mean that today’s residential fires burn faster than ever before. Synthetic furnishings release toxic chemical smoke when they burn. As a result, a typical house fire can become deadly in three minutes or less.
In Massachusetts, more than 70% of all fire-related injuries and deaths take place at home, yet residential occupancies are the least likely to be protected by fire sprinklers. Most residential fires can be quickly contained or extinguished by a single sprinkler head, which puts out about 12 to 15 gallons of water per minute. An uncontrolled fire in the same environment can double in size every 30 seconds, requiring firefighters to use hundreds or thousands of gallons of water to extinguish it.
Fires quickly extinguished by sprinklers release fewer greenhouse gases and less toxic runoff than fires that grow to consume a room, its contents, and the rest of the structure.
Buying or building a home? Renting a new apartment? Choose one with fire sprinklers!
