The Fire Service has used The Star Home Show in Dunedin to promote the fire safety benefits of installing modern sprinkler systems in new houses.
Southern Region Fire Safety Officer Barry Gibson, of Dunedin, said the service was promoting the value of installing sprinklers in new houses and other dwellings that were being significantly redeveloped.
The emphasis was no longer just on fitting sprinklers in large commercial buildings.
A Fire Service display featured a working model of a large house, showing how modern smart sprinkler systems automatically extinguished a fire in an affected room, without dousing the whole building unnecessarily, Mr Gibson said.
He said the Fire Service had this year also liaised with community groups and firms who worked closely with people with impaired hearing, in order to raise awareness of specialised products, linked to smoke alarms, which alerted those with hearing difficulties, and those sleeping heavily as a result of their medication.
Kelven Gaskell, a hearing therapist and volunteer firefighter with the Portobello Volunteer Fire Brigade, who helped develop a nearby, related display, said some portable devices shook under pillows, another larger product shook the whole bed, and in some cases lights also flashed to alert people that smoke alarms had been activated.
Home Show co-ordinator George Owen said the overall public response to the latest three-day annual show, at the Edgar Centre, had been "very positive", with exhibitors enjoying good sales and overall attendance similar to last year.
