Group hosts sprinkler demonstration for Fire Safety Day

April 29, 2014 Updated Apr 29, 2014 at 6:06 PM CDT

EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- A traveling advocacy group says in-home sprinkler systems can save your home and your life.

They backed that up statement in dramatic fashion on Tuesday.

Common Voices and the Fire Sprinkler Association celebrated Fire Safety Day on Tuesday afternoon in East Peoria.

The groups placed two model living rooms side by side, one with a sprinkler system.

Both rooms were fully engulfed seconds after the fire started but the room with the sprinkler system was quickly extinguished.

Still, some homeowners worry the system is too expensive.

"When you put a sprinkler system in a new home and you advertise it over a 30 year mortgage, it's less than a dollar a day, said Bob Tinucci, Illinois Regional Manager of the Fire Sprinkle Association. This is a simple system to build life safety into the home. It's no different that auto manufacturers requiring airbags and seat belts."

Ninety-four communities in Illinois mandate sprinklers be installed in all new construction.

Organizers of Tuesdays event hope more cities in central Illinois adopt that rule.

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Group hosts sprinkler demonstration for Fire Safety Day