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The rooms, that both had furniture, as well as pictures and clocks hanging on the walls, were lit on fire. The one with the sprinklers, in the end, suffered a small amount of fire damage, with mostly water damage.

“The damage from a sprinkler-controlled fire, generally speaking, can be cleaned, dried and reoccupied within a week or two weeks,” said Jason Schmitt, Paul Davis’ vice president of emergency response.

In the room without the sprinklers, the walls and furniture were destroyed by the blaze.

“This is devastating damage. It’s catastrophic,” Schmitt said. “The dramatic difference here is really a great way to show how important it is to have smoke detectors, how important it is to have an escape plan and how important the fire sprinklers are in controlling fires.”

Paul Davis Restoration repairs and cleans up damage to institutional, commercial and residential structures from fire, water, mold and other disasters. It also partners with fire departments and fire investigation units on public education, Schmitt said, and works with fire departments, legislators and insurance industries to promote the use of sprinkler systems.

“Sprinkler advocacy is one of our core tenants. As a company, we want life-long and career-long advocates for fire safety,” Schmitt said.

Steve Howard, who spoke Friday at the demonstration in Janesville as a representative of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, and is a retired Waukesha fire chief, said sprinklers will prevent fire from spreading, will buy people time to escape safely, and will give firefighters time to respond.

Janesville Fire Marshal Nate Simmons said Friday’s event was “the best way to showcase to anyone who wants to know, what a sprinkler does.”

Simmons added that if sprinklers are not present in a home, it’s important to close doors while sleeping and to ensure there are functional smoke detectors.