A sprinkler system saved a Beaver Dam apartment building from widespread damage on Friday.

Just after 3pm, the Beaver Dam Fire Department was dispatched to Mary Ann Road for a report of a garage fire which was located directly below the apartments. Crews arrived on scene to find smoke visible from the garage. Fire Chief Alan Mannel says the new apartments were equipped with sprinklers that extinguished the fire prior to the arrival of first responders. He says without the sprinklers installed, the fire may have been (quote) “catastrophic.” Mannel adds examples like these are why fire departments around the state stress the importance of sprinklers in multi-family structures and apartment complexes.