This investigation provides a detailed analysis of the hydraulic analogue technique used as a predictive tool for understanding smoke detector response within a complex enclosure. There currently exists no collectively accepted method for predicting the response of smoke detectors; one of the most important elements in life safety. A quantitative technique has been developed using salt-water modeling and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) diagnostics. The non-intrusive diagnostic technique is used to temporally and spatially characterize the dispersion of a buoyant plume within a 1/7th scale room-corridor-room enclosure. This configuration is geometrically similar to a full-scale fire test facility, where local conditions were characterized near five ionization type smoke detectors placed throughout the enclosure. An evaluation of the scaled local conditions and dispersive event times for both systems was used to formulate a preliminary predictive detector response model for use with the hydraulic analogue.