Warehouses - storing trouble for the future?

• Today Warehouses often extend to many acres in area.

• They are used to store a wide range of materials often with little supervision on the contents

• When fire breaks out the mixture of substances can produce very dangerous gasses and the run-off pollutes watercourses.

• Fighting fires in such huge buildings is impossible from the outside and so firefighters frequently have to risk structural collapse.

• Current legislation requires fire sprinklers in single story retail premises of more than 2,000 sq. meters, but this does not apply to warehouses.

• However it is generally accepted that it is impossible to fight fires in building of over 5oo sq metres in area from the outside.

• The FSA believes that both single story retail premises and warehouses over 500 sq meters in area should be protected by fire sprinklers.

A sprinkler system would -

• Immediately attack the fire

• Limit damage to the immediate area of the fire

• Protect workers in the warehouse

• Minimise risks to firefighters

• Reduce environmental pollution

  • toxic gasses

  • smoke

  • run-off

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