Fred Ludwig and Peter Talen were living in the same off-campus house when it caught fire in November 2006.
Both University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students escaped that day without injury, Ludwig said.
Daniel Gengler of the National Fire Sprnkler Association talks about how fire spreads in a room to UWL students the dorm room on the righ had a sprinkler system, and the one on the left did not . The room was engulfed by flames in four minutes. Dick Riniker photo
But a year later, the 23-year-old Talen lost his life in a house fire near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus while visiting his younger brother, a UW student.
His death last November inspired a fire safety campaign on the UW-L campus this week.