According to Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, the sprinkler system installed in a Reigate Avenue home extinguished flames by the time fire crews arrived on scene early Saturday morning.

Fire officials believe the fire started at about 1 a.m. in a dryer located in the home's basement. The Kennedy Road and Vodden Street area house is an "assisted living" home with four people living upstairs and three residing downstairs, said Gary Jarrett, Acting Division Chief, Fire Prevention Division.

Property owners chose to install a sprinkler system in 1998, he explained, as one option available to meeting fire code standards.

A fire left unchecked can move quickly- causing considerable damage and increasing the potential threat to life. Water damage caused by high-pressure fire hoses used to bring a blaze under control can also be very costly for homeowners. In this case, the damage was "negligible" Jarrett assessed. Residents of the house were back in their home by Monday, he pointed out.

This is in sharp contrast to two other house fires he investigated this past weekend, one of which is also believed to have started in a basement clothes dryer. Victims in those cases are left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and it will be months before homes are fit to be lived in again, said Jarrett.

The incident is testament to the benefits of residential sprinkler systems, he noted. For years now, local MPP Linda Jeffrey and members of the local fire services have been lobbying for provincial legislation to make residential sprinklers mandatory in new homes.