Sprinkler Stories - Archive 2
FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE MEGABOWL BLAZEFIREFIGHTERS TACKLE MEGABOWL BLAZE more
“The building was of classical portal frame construction. It conforms to current building regulations but it does mean you have a large single storey building which was open plan and had no sprinklers fitted” said DCFO Standing. "This led to rapid fire spread and the structure became unstable very quickly presenting extreme danger to firefighters. Access in this instance was also difficult and the fire remained contained within the structure making it hard to extinguish”
SCHOOL RAVAGED BY SECOND FIRE
A West Yorkshire school which was destroyed three years ago in an arson attack has been badly damaged in another fire.
About 70 firefighters were called to tackle the fire at Brigshaw High School in Brigshaw Lane, Allerton Bywater near Castleford.
Fire crews from Castleford, Rothwell, Wakefield and Leeds were involved in the operation after being alerted at about 1330 GMT on Sunday.
Three of the school buildings, including the sports hall, have been badly damaged by the fire which was started by an electrical fault.
The school had to be rebuilt following an arson attack in April 2000 which caused more than £1m of damage.
SPRINKLERS SAVE FURNITURE COMPANY Paul Hardy, Divisional Officer Fire Safety of Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue, reports that late on 17 December the fire service was called to a fire at Wood Brothers, a manufacturer of quality reproduction furniture, in Ware, UK. On arrival the fire-fighters found that six sprinkler heads had operated to control a fire that had started close to two furniture spray booths. Fire-fighters only needed a small quantity of water to extinguish the fire. The fire sprinkler system was 35 years old but did its job. The fire is believed to have started by spontaneous ignition of oil-impregnated rags in a bin close to the spray booths. 6 sprinklers operated because the high quantity of solvents present led to rapid fire development. A flow switch in the fire sprinkler system automatically alerted the fire brigade.
Paul Hardy comments, "Due to the effectiveness of the sprinkler system, the company was able to resume trading the following morning. Had sprinklers not been fitted in this premises we are confident that the company would have suffered a serious if not a total loss".
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PASSES SPRINKLER LAW Montgomery County, Maryland, (a suburb of Washington DC) has signed into law Bill 25-03, making Montgomery County the largest jurisdiction in the nation to mandate sprinkler systems in new homes. The legislation requires all new single-family houses that are built in the County to include an approved fire sprinkler system, and it requires that property tax notices provide information about the local tax credit available for installing non-mandated sprinkler systems in all other residential buildings that do not have such systems. The legislation will apply to all new construction on or after January 1, 2004.
The County Council passed the legislation unanimously during Fire Prevention Week. Sprinkler systems have proven statistically to dramatically reduce fire deaths and injuries, and to also significantly reduce total property loss. “This legislation represents an important step forward in protecting our community from the dangers of fire,” said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan. “Sprinklers save lives, and they are relatively inexpensive when installed in the construction phase of a home. These are essential to the health and welfare of our residents.”
Current state and county laws require fire sprinkler systems in new multi-family dwellings, townhouses, and commercial structures. A substantial property tax credit is available as an incentive for installing sprinklers in older multi-family and town homes and in all other residential buildings that currently are not required to have sprinklers. County residents who install sprinkler systems in their homes or retrofit them are eligible for up to a fifty-percent one-time property tax credit.
Tests of new residential quick-response sprinkler systems reveal that the sprinklers respond in as little as 35 seconds, completely extinguishing a fire. Sprinkler systems normally cost less than 1 percent of the cost of a new house – similar to that of wall-to-wall carpeting. These systems are proven to be very reliable, if properly installed. The heat of the fire individually triggers each sprinkler head within the system so only those sprinkler heads that are needed are activated. The chances of a sprinkler system discharging accidentally are extremely remote. For more information call the County’s Treasury Division at 240-777-8931 or go online to
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mc/services/dfrs/documents/councilbill300.pdf
ODPM RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLER EVALUATION PROJECT REPORT Finally after more than 2 years the ODPM Residential Sprinkler evaluation project produced a preliminary report on December 11th. The report clearly shows that Residential Sprinklers are totally effective in controlling domestic fires. The associated Cost Benefit Analysis also clearly shows that residential sprinklers are beneficial in high-rise properties especially where the occupants are disabled. Nevertheless the FSA would question the raw data used in the analysis since it is unnecessarily pessimistic and does not reflect the data collected in places such as Scottsdale and Vancouver. Anthony Burd has promised to look again at this part of the project before the final report is published in late January/early February. Press Release
FSA MEMBERSHIP PASSES 140 Membership of the FSA has now passed 140 making the FSA easily the largest body representing the UK Fire Sprinkler Industry.
IFSA ANNOUNCES 5TH INTERNATIONAL FIRE SPRINKLER CONFERENCE 8-9 JULY 2004 BERLIN, GERMANY
Further details are available from the IFSA web site at www.sprinklerworld.org or from the FSA office.
PUTTING YOUR MONEY
WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS -
Director for Community Protection
at West Midlands Fire Service,
Vijith Randeniya, has fitted a residential sprinkler system to his own home,
showing his conviction that everyone should be protected by fire sprinklers. The
system was installed by FSA Registered Installer
FSA COUNCIL ELECTED The first Council of the Fire Sprinkler Association was elected at the FSA's EGM on October 21st.
Following the well-attended meeting the new Council elected Tom Carroll as Chairman and Gordon Browning as Vice Chairman. more
FSA EXTRA-ORDINARY MEETING OCTOBER 21ST. Members are reminded that the FSA is holding its EGM to elect its first Council on Tuesday October 21st. Nominations need to be received in the office by midnight October 14th.
FSA MEMBERSHIP PASSES THE 100 MARK As of today 111 organisations have pledged support for the FSA. This clearly demonstrates the desire of the wider Sprinkler Industry to be properly represented and for its market to be driven forward in the same way that the Residential Sprinkler market was so successfully created by the RSA.
CHILDREN'S FIRE & BURNS TRUST invites you to take part in the Firebeaters Challenge. For details click here
MINISTER EMBRACES SPRINKLER POLICY Nick Raynsford, in his speech to the FIRE 2003 conference, has promised to include residential sprinklers in the Government's new integrated approach to fire safety.
"We are now taking a more integrated approach across government to issues concerning fire, for example on residential sprinklers. We have always recognised that sprinkler systems have a role to play alongside other measures in promoting fire safety.
The experiences in other countries provide us with a valuable insight into the implementation and effect of residential sprinklers. But we need to know more, which is why in April 2001 we commissioned an extensive research project with the Building Research Establishment to consider fully the effectiveness of residential sprinklers. The results of this work are due around the end of the year.
We will be consider this research, and the possibility of extending the existing provisions for sprinkler protection to new residential premises, including dwellings, as part of a review of the current Building Regulations. This review is due to commence in early 2004. The proposals will be subject to full public consultation, and will be supported by a Regulatory Impact Assessment.
In addition the first version of guidance under the new regime which will eventually replace the Housing Fitness Standard states that, ideally, multi-occupied buildings should be provided with an automatic sprinkler system. This means that where the risk is justified, and where the occupants are particularly vulnerable, sprinklers may well be appropriate." download speech
SCHOOL ARSON SPATE COSTS MILLIONS schools page
More than 100 fires - many of them suspected arson attacks - have been dealt with at schools in the north west of England during the summer holidays, it has emerged.
The bill for repairs is estimated at £97m. In one of the worst fires of the summer, Withington Girls' School in Manchester, suffered serious damage to one of its wings. Police believe it was started deliberately. Detective Constable Jonathan Wakefield, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "It has been estimated that £1m damage has been caused to the school. The seat of the fire has been discovered in the roof of the building. From our initial enquiries within the area two youths were seen to be hanging around the vicinity of the school. If anyone did see these two people or saw anything at all suspicious that would lead us to those responsible for causing the fire they should contact us."
The start of the new term will be delayed by two days and the
school will have to use temporary classrooms until the damage has been repaired.
Meanwhile, a fire at Devonshire Junior School in Layton, Blackpool, on Saturday
night, is also being treated as suspicious. Six children aged between 10 and 12
have been questioned by police and released on police bail. Blackpool Council
says all 400 children due to return next week will be accommodated at the
recently-vacated Boundary Primary School on Grange Park.
SPRINKLERS PUT OUT CHIP PAN BLAZE - Thursday 31 July 23:00 Ayrshire Scotland. A chip pan ignited in the kitchen of a riverside flat late this evening, but was immediately extinguished by a fire sprinkler system, which had been installed by South Ayrshire Council during a recent refurbishment.
The sprinkler systems was automatically linked to a call centre which immediately contacted the fire brigade, but the fire was already out by the time they arrived. Residents were entirely unhurt in the incident and very little damage was caused by the fire. Installing contractors Api Vipond were on the scene within the hour and the sprinkler system was back in operation shortly afterwards.
Just another example of how fire sprinklers save lives, property and the environment.
PRESCOTT SCRAPS FIRE DEATH
TARGETS John Prescott has scrapped the
Government's target to reduce fire deaths by 20% by next year and admits he does
not now expect this to happen before 2010. A spokeswoman denied this was related
to planned reductions in fire cover as a result of the pay settlement and said
the targets were not now achievable because of the ageing population.
Tory spokesman David Davis said "A reduction of only 20% over 11 years would
amount to a disgraceful failure. More than 1,000 people could die unnecessarily.
If Britain achieved the same death rates as the Swiss or Dutch we would save
about 300 lives a year."
New Zealand managed to reduce
fire losses by 48% between 1996 and 2000.
Press
Release
July 2003 THE FIRE SPRINKLER ASSOCIATION HAS ARRIVED As of July 1st 2003 the FSA is fully operational. Being the only organisation that fully represents the interests of the entire UK Fire Sprinkler Industry and all those who want to see fire sprinkler more widely used, the FSA is the place to come for information on sprinklers. see Press Release
FIRE DESTROYS SCHOOL IN PETERBOROUGH. Fire crews were called to the Stanground Community College at 0.29am Monday morning June 30th. Firefighters worked through the night to control the blaze, but the school has been destroyed leaving its pupils without a school and without their GCSE course work. See Press Release
FSA GETS SOLID SUPPORT FROM INDUSTRY At a very well attended the open meeting on June 16th the FSA was given solid support by the Industry.
Gordon Browning Managing Director of TYCO Fire & Building Products spoke about his personal belief that the UK sprinkler industry has failed to market itself over many years. He spoke of the support his company is giving to the FSA, both directly and through the International Fire Sprinkler Association, and his expectation that the FSA will redress this imbalance.
John McCann of Vipond spoke about the investment his company, the second largest sprinkler installer in the USA, was making in the UK market, and how the FSA had their full backing.
Ian Grist, Chairman of the Association of Fire Protection Engineers, spoke about his belief that the creation of the FSA would enable the industry to address many of the problems that had plagued it over the years, especially in respect to Training and Certification issues.
Tom Carroll, chairman pro tem of the FSA, closed the meeting and urged everyone in the fire sprinkler industry to get fully involved in the FSA.
FSA OPEN MEETING. The FSA will hold an open meeting at 2:30 on Monday June 16th at the Arden Hotel Solihull (adjacent to Birmingham Airport). If you want to know about the FSA this will give you an opportunity to ask questions of the FSA's first Board of Directors.
June 2003 TOM CARROLL ELECTED CHAIRMAN The FSA Council has elected Tom Carroll Chairman and Gordon Browning Vice Chairman until the special Member's meeting is called to properly elect Council members.
May 2003 APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER The FSA has appointed Sir George Pigot as Chief Executive see Press Release
Oct 2002 FIRE SPRINKLER BODIES COMBINE TO CUT FIRE DEATHS AND INJURIES It is proposed that the Association of Fire Protection Engineers, the British Automatic Sprinkler Association and the Residential Sprinkler Association will amalgamate into a single body, the Fire Sprinkler Association, on January 1st 2003. see Press Release