THIS is the difference a sprinkler can make if a fire ripped through your home.

As part of National Sprinkler Week, Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is sending a stark message to raise awareness of how effective the safety measure can be.

Using two empty properties at the Strete Mount development in Bingham Road, Somerford, experienced firefighters and apprentices demonstrated the difference the simple device can make during a blaze.

During the demonstration at the two former Sovereign Housing Association properties, crews set alight to a sofa and bed to show how quickly individual sprinklers work to bring a blaze under control.

And in the property without a sprinkler, fire tore through the one-bedroom home, leaving blackened walls, broken windows and destroyed furniture.

Testing their training, Dorset Fire and Rescue Service apprentices, wearing breathing apparatus, tackled the blaze, pulling a casualty dummy to safety.

Group manager Andy Fox, head of fire safety at Dorset Fire, said while the sprinklers most importantly save lives, they are also integral for ensuring businesses are able to operate quickly following a fire at at a store or office building.

He said: "Put simply, sprinklers save lives. Being realistic, the problem we have is that while smoke detectors alert people to fires, those who are not mobile have to wait for us to get there.

"This campaign is really targeting groups such as landlords and housing associations and we are just trying to get that safety message out as more and more people are remaining at home longer."

Ben Ansell, Dorset's assistant chief fire officer, and the Chief Fire Officers Association’s lead on sprinklers, added: "Nationally all Fire and Rescue services are focusing on sprinklers. In Dorset, we are particularly focusing on residential sprinklers as a key part of our strategy.

"It is great for our apprentices to get some valuable practice and experience."

He said the misconceived image of sprinklers flooding a room with water was not true, and the system work on an individual basis, rather than one setting an entire system off.

In 2013, a fire which started in the paper storage section of Makro in Poole, was controlled by sprinklers until Dorset Fire arrived, allowing the store to be open the next day.

And in 2012, a fire in the tobacco kiosk of Asda in Bournemouth was also extinguished by a sprinkler system.