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.