IPSWICH — Fire officials are crediting a classic car storage facility’s working sprinkler system with saving hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of property on Saturday.  

Firefighters Keith Carlson, Peter Nich, and Jeff Stone were dispatched just before noon to Clam Town Classics at 11 Old Right Road for a fire alarm activation with a water-flow alarm.  

On arrival, they found heavy smoke coming from the unit housing a number of classic cars.     

The source of the smoke was a 1972 Lamborghini — a fire had started under the hood. Heat from the blaze had activated three sprinkler heads above the car, containing the fire to its point of origin.  

Ipswich firefighters, assisted by colleagues from Topsfield, opened the hood and extinguished the rest of the flames, then got to the business of ventilating the unit.  

Wenham firefighters, along with off-duty and call IFD members, covered the vacant Ipswich station.  

Fire chief Paul Parisi credited his crew with quick and decisive work and said the sprinkler system prevented what could have been a massive — and very costly — fire.  

“Usually, you only have one or two sprinkler heads activated,” Parisi said. “The fact that three sprinkler heads went off tells you just how much heat there was. Yet the fire was contained only to the engine compartment.” 

A 1954 mint condition Cadillac, just a few yards away, was undamaged.    

“The sprinkler system did just what it’s designed to do. Without it, the property loss would have been much more significant.”    

The owner of Clam Town Classics, George Delaney, was also impressed.  “As a business owner watching the bottom line, I didn’t care too much for sprinklers,” Delaney said. “Now I’ve done a 180. After seeing the difference they make, I’m a big fan.”