Wise Up To Fire

A growing number of schools are being devastated by fire; the public purse is suffering and there is an increasing risk to life

" . . . this House . . . calls upon the government to broaden its recommendations to make the installation of sprinklers in all new-build and major refurbishments of maintained schools mandatory. " — House of Commons Early Day Motions – 7.3.06: Water Sprinklers in Schools

There is a growing awareness among politicians, professionals and the public that fires in public buildings, and especially schools, represent a major social and political issue. They rob staff and students of irreplaceable work, teaching resources and life opportunities, shatter communities and are increasingly putting lives at risk.

Equally, there is a much greater understanding that the use of automatic fire-sprinkler systems can significantly reduce the terrible results of fire. The problem is translating this knowledge into action, so that protecting schools becomes a much higher priority for local education authorities and that the presence of sprinklers is seen as part of the essential investment in new and refurbished schools. Professional bodies such as the Chief Fire Officers Association and the National School Governors’ Association are fully behind these moves. Campaigning is gathering momentum and the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) is playing its part with its Wise up to Fire awareness programme.

There is compelling evidence of a major and increasing problem in school arson. While deliberately set fires in public buildings are increasing, more than 25 per cent of all such fires started are in educational premises. The direct cost to the public purse has risen from £65mn in 2000 to £83mn only four years later — equivalent to building 84 new primary schools.

However, the most serious aspect of these trends is that an increasing number of fires take place during the school day — with the potential for life loss which this implies. The cost of sprinklers is low, especially when compared to the cost of rebuilding, yet still there are many schools, children and teachers unprotected by these simple and effective systems.

The statistics on the risks to schools and the benefits of sprinklers speak for themselves:

• There are around 40 school fires each week
• Physical damage to schools cost in excess of £83mn in 2004
• In the past, school fires have accounted for 25 per cent of all building fires
• Up to 75 per cent of all school fires are started deliberate and are increasingly taking place during the school day when the building is occupied
• Losses from fires in buildings fitted with sprinklers are one-tenth of those in unprotected buildings
• Insurers such as Zurich Municipal will reduce cost of premiums on sprinklered schools by up to 65 per cent and reduce the excess applicable, typically £100,000 to nil
• The chance of a sprinkler going off accidentally is 1 in 14 million
• Sprinklers only discharge 10 per cent of the water used by the fire and rescue service, considerably reducing the risk of water damage.

The fire and rescue service have long been aware of the problem. The President of the Chief Fire Officers Association, urges: "As we're building more new schools and re-furbishing the existing ones, we must take advantage of this unique opportunity to ensure that sprinklers are fitted, to give our children the best protection."

And the Local Government Association’s official standpoint is: "Sprinkler protection is proven to be effective at putting out fires and limiting damage. We should not wait until the unthinkable happens and life is lost before deciding to protect our schools sufficiently."

Yet, only around 300 schools out of 28,000 have fire-sprinkler systems installed.

The messages of the Wise Up to Fire campaign are very straightforward:

• Sprinklers save lives and property (including the lives of fire-fighters)
• Governors, teachers and parents can take action to make sure their school is safe
• Demand sprinklers in your school.

BAFSA’s initiative is designed not only to get these messages over forcefully, but also do some ‘myth busting’ — sprinklers don’t go off accidentally, they don’t all go off together and do not damage property needlessly, and they are not an expensive luxury.

For more information on the campaign, see the Wise Up to Fire website: www.wiseuptofire.org. Material such as leaflets, facts and figures and template letters are also available from the website or by contacting BAFSA on info@basa.org.uk.

Bernadette Hartley, British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association