Sprinkler News 2

Ł5M AWARD FOR FIRE-DAMAGED SCHOOL

A Warwickshire school devastated in a suspected arson attack is to receive a government cash award of more than Ł5m.

Pupils at Avon Valley School in Newbold-on-Avon, Rugby, have been taught in mobile classrooms since it was badly damaged on 28 June 2004.

Last year representatives travelled to Westminster to lobby for extra funds for rebuilding work as it was claimed an insurance settlement was not enough.

The Department for Education and Skills said on Wednesday it is to give Ł5.5m.

About three-quarters of the school buildings were destroyed and pupils' GCSE coursework was lost in the blaze.

Temporary classrooms

A 15-year-old boy arrested in connection with the fire was released on police bail in November last year.

Since September 2004, the school has been using 30 temporary classrooms to teach about 1,000 students.

School governors and county councillors met up with the then Schools Minister David Milliband in November to request money for repairs.

They appealed for help from the government because they said an insurance settlement figure had not been enough to cover the costs of rebuilding and equipping the premises.

Since then they have had several meetings with government officials and ministers to address the funding gap.

'Brilliant news'

Work is now due to start on drawing up designs for the new school.

Eric Wood, from Warwickshire County Council, said: "There is still a funding shortfall, but this brilliant news from the government will enable us to build a state-of-the-art school that the community of Newbold can be proud of.

"I can confirm that there will be a sprinkler system in the school and I am looking forward to the production of the design specification that can give everyone connected with the school something to focus on."

Acting head teacher of Avon Valley School, Don O'Neill, said he was delighted.

"On behalf of the governors and the school I would like to thank the officers at Warwickshire County Council for their hard work in achieving this," he said.

"We will all be looking forward to the next phase with excitement."

3 KILLED IN HIGH-RISE FIRE IN HERTFORDSHIRE
Two firefighters have died trying to save a resident trapped by a fire at a 17-storey block of flats. A third person died in the fire, which started at about 3am at Harrow Court, in Silam Road, Stevenage, Herts. Seven other people were taken to hospital, one of whom is said to be in a critical condition. More than 70 people had to be evacuated from the building according to a Hertfordshire Police spokesman. The fire started in a flat on the 14th floor and quickly spread to the floor above early on Wednesday morning.
Roy Wilsher, deputy chief fire officer with Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the tragedy had caused "deep shock for the fire service". "We have had a particularly severe and tragic fire," he said. "We know one person escaped and our firefighters knew there was somebody else in there. "They were trying to rescue that person when that tragic event occurred. "We have a full investigation going on to find the cause." Incidents like this illustrate the problems of fighting fires in high-rise buildings. Had a fire sprinkler system been installed, it would have controlled the fire so that it would never have grown to a size that would have put life at risk. As a result 2 firefighters and a member of the public would be alive today.
The Scottish Executive acted last year to make sprinkler system mandatory in similar blocks in Scotland. The ODPM sprinkler research project clearly showed the benefit of sprinklers in high-rise blocks. Fire statistics show that multi-occupied buildings such as these account for 35% of all fire deaths and 40% of injuries, mainly because so many are affected by the outbreak of a fire. Plainly current fire protection in such buildings is inadequate. When, we ask will there be UK legislation to make sprinklers mandatory in all high-rise buildings throughout the land?

FOUR OAPS IN HOSPITAL AFTER BLAZE Press Release
Four elderly people have been taken to hospital after a fire in a nursing home near Colwyn Bay. The blaze began in the basement of the Rhos Priory home in Rhos-on-Sea at around 0030 GMT. The 35 residents were all moved out of the three-storey home into a neighbouring building, where their condition was assessed by paramedics. North Wales Fire Service said the cause of the blaze was not clear, but a full investigation would be carried out. A total of 44 firefighters and several ambulances were involved in the incident, which was described as "a very long rescue operation". Dylan Southern, the owner of the home, has said the most vulnerable residents had returned to the building.	FIREFIGHTERS WERE CALLED AT AROUND 0030GMT
The rest will be go back after it has been inspected by gas, electricity and lift engineers. They had been moved to the home next door, which is owned by the same firm. The fire, which began in a laundry room, was brought under control at 0410 GMT. Colin Hanks, from the North Wales Fire and Rescue service, said the first call came in at around 0030 GMT. "It was obvious there was a serious fire in the basement of the premises, which subsequently went on to completely [smoke] the whole of the building," he said. "The first crews here were obviously faced with a simultaneous task of firefighting in the basement and commencing rescues of persons in the property on both the first and second floor. "Clearly very few of the people were mobile and a lot of the people were in bed and some were under medication. "Crews had quite a challenge in recovering these people and getting them down to safety on the ground floor." 'Upset and trauma' Keith Williams, from the Welsh Ambulance service, said medical assessments were needed to be made on the residents. "The injuries were of a minor degree, really from the outset of the incident. However, a number of casualties have been taken to the local receiving hospitals," he said. "The only difficulty really is in the immobility of those patients as opposed to any kind of clinical difficulty." He said they had been ensuring people were warm, comfortable and understand what was happening. "It has obviously been quite an upset and a trauma for them," he added.

186 DIE IN ARGENTINE NIGHTCLUB FIRE
	The death toll has now risen to 186 after a fire that tore through Cromagnon Republic nightclub, in Once district, in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. More than 700 others were injured when the fire broke out late on Thursday Dec 30th, city officials said. Between 2,000 and 4,000 people, many of them teenagers, were packed inside the club for a New Year performance by rock group Los Callejeros, although the nightclub was only licensed to hold 1,300. "People fired flares into the ceiling, which was made of cloth and rubber," 15-year-old Cecilia Arce told reporters. "The rubber started burning, but with few or no flames, making a terrible smoke that choked you, killed you, if you breathed it." Exits were "locked with chains and padlocks so that people wouldn't enter without paying", said Mayor Ibarra. Concert-goers managed to force open some exits, but only firefighters were able to break open the others. "It appears they were condemned to walk into a trap," Mr Fernandez said. Club-goers say the building quickly filled with smoke and that people rushed for the emergency exits. Many fainted from the smoke. Bystanders and concert-goers carried people out of the smouldering building. Many of the dead are thought to have died from smoke inhalation. "The fire spread in a minute and we were a mountain of people trying to escape," said survivor Ariel Monges, who lost a friend and a cousin in the fire. "People were pushing and jumping over each other trying to get out," Jose Maria Godoy, said. "It was like a human wave. As people fell down running for the door, others just simply ran over them or pushed them down." Witnesses have confirmed that there were strong warnings not to let off flares before the accident. Club staff searched concert-goers on the door, one young woman who lost her husband in the fire said. "They looked in bags, in shoes, even in our hair. They frisked me from head to toe," she said. "Before the concert, a staff member got on stage and talked for at least 15 minutes to say that flares must not be set off," survivor Laly Reches said. Mr Ibarra says the fire brigade is responsible for building safety in Buenos Aires, and it approved the nightclub in June. The club owner, Omar Chaban, has been detained for questioning although he has not yet been formally charged and police are seeking his three business partners. Public anger is mounting, and the main target of the current protests is the mayor of Buenos Aires, Anibal Ibarra but he is refusing to resign. About 1,000 people marched from the nightclub to the town hall via the morgue on Saturday to demand that those responsible for the fire be punished and that safety regulations be tightened. "We have to ensure this never happens again," said Jorge Viegas Mendes, whose 18-year-old son Cristian died in the blaze. The crowd blames his city's government for tolerating poor safety standards.Mayor Anibal Ibarra has declared three days of mourning and has also ordered the closure of all nightclubs in the city while safety measures are reconsidered. for New Year's Eve. The simple inclusion of fire sprinklers would have prevented this tragedy

PRIMARY SCHOOL SUFFERS SECOND FIRE IN 3 YEARS

Investigators believe a fire which damaged an Edinburgh primary school may have been started deliberately.

Nearly 50 firefighters were called out to Oxgangs Primary in the Colinton Mains area of the city on Wednesday evening. There were reports that youths were seen in part of the building.

Oxgangs Primary

The fire at the primary school may have been started deliberately

Classrooms and a corridor were said to have been destroyed in what was the second major fire to hit the school in only three years.

Nearly 320 children are having to stay off school until alternative arrangements can be made for them.

A spokeswoman for the Edinburgh City Council's education department said that the latest incident was upsetting for both pupils and staff.

The damage caused by the fire at Oxgangs in 2001 was estimated at about Ł500,000. A new school for the area is due to open next Easter.

With 2 fires in the past three years, what the FSA would like to know - is the new schools fitted with sprinklers? or have yet to learn the lesson on school fires?

Press Release

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