A rural home builder has decided to include sprinkler systems in many of its new homes.

The system costs an extra $5,000 but many homeowners feel it's worth the price, especially if it saves lives.

"It's going to give the homeowner the opportunity to get out of the home. It's also going to give the fire department time to get to the house, put the fire out, use a lot less water and have a lot less damage as a result of the fire," says Murray Pound, a Gold Seal Master Builder.

Pound is also a volunteer firefighter in Carstairs and says he welcomes the sprinkler systems because time and water are always a concern in rural house fires.

The sprinkler system is looped into the home's water supply and sprinkler heads are spread across the ceiling to cover various zones in the house.

"We see it over and over, one, two, three houses lost to fires. So a detector that goes off properly, a system that activates and either extinguishes, or holds the fire in check, until your fire service arrives, that can't be anything but good news," says Garth Rabel from the Calgary Fire Department.

At this point, sprinklers are only being installed in new rural homes.

The Calgary Fire Department says anyone building a house, even in an urban area, should consider a similar system.

For more information about residential sprinklers, click on the link to the right.