At 08:11 on the morning of Tuesday 31st January 2012, West Midlands Fire Service crews attended a fire in a 6 storey block of student accommodation in Bagot Street, Birmingham. A fire had occurred in the kitchen area of one of the student ‘pods’ in the recently built block. The design of the accommodation is such that up to seven students live together. There are seven bedrooms with en-suite facilities and a communal lounge and cooking facilities. Each floor comprises a number of ‘pod’s, each accessed from the main corridor/means of escape.nnThe fire was discovered to be ‘Out on Arrival’ as one head of the sprinkler system had activated and extinguished the fire. Crews were engaged in some clear-up work before leaving the scene and some smoke damage occurred inside the common living space within the ‘pod’.nnThe team here at AES National can provide all the information you need in order to decide which fire sprinkler system is best for you. Call us today on 01473 320 350 or send us an email services@aesnational.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.

Darren Gunter, the Chief Fire Officer of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service has joined the calls for Fire Sprinkler Systems to be made mandatory in all new schools and care homes. He also backs the CFOA’s campaign endorsing changes in legislation be made making sprinkler systems compulsory in all new domestic builds similar to the legislation changes passed in Wales in April 2011.nnCraig Baker, Head of Fire Safety at Dorset Fire and Rescue, added: “We do accept that there is a cost to this but we really want to make sure people are thinking safety first.  “We know [with sprinklers] that people can get out safely, the property is protected to a very greater extent, the damage is less and the environmental damage is less.”

Tyne and Wear F&RS have reported a sprinkler activation that took place on 28 January 2012.  An electric heat lamp in the Animal Care Classroom of Walbottle Campus, Newcastle upon Tyne malfunctioned and caused a fire at 11:13 on Saturday morning. The school’s sports facilities were in use at the time with 200+ persons on site.  The three storey (10,300m²) secondary school is a newly built Newcastle City Council PFI facility, with an on-site manager employed by Aura. The fire was detected by the AFD system and a single sprinkler head in the room of origin activate which extinguished the fire.  A number of small animals (guinea pigs, gerbils, tortoise and tarantula spiders) were present in the room of origin and all survived whilst no other areas of the school were affected.nnFire-fighting action involved two appliances with eight personnel, two BA wearers entered the building for smoke clearance using positive pressure ventilation, and salvage duties were also carried out including caring for the animals.  The impact of the fire was restricted to a wooden bench and minor smoke damage to the room involved. This amounted to less than 1% of the whole building.  The school opened as normal on Monday 30 January 2012 and it is estimated that the damage to the room will be repaired within 7 days.  BAFSA Comments: This is a very good example of the value of a sprinkler system in improving tenability in a fire compartment. The survival of the animals demonstrates that sprinklers can successfully protect the lives of occupants who are unable to evacuate. The lack of fire spread and minimal impact on the school mission also show how valuable sprinklers are.