News

Fire Deaths Rise over 60% in Scotland

Monday, 03 November 2008 17:56

Scottish press have widely reported the sad statistic that in the past 12 months 73 people died in fires in Scotland, compared to 45 in the previous period. Alcohol was a contributory factor in 41% of the fatal house fires, according to the Fire Services annual report. Injuries also increased by 6% to 1,547. Almost two-thirds of those who died in house fires lived alone. 13 people died in properties with working smoke alarms.

Chief Inspector of Fire Services Keith MacGillivray, who compiled the report, said "This tragic loss of life due to fire in Scotland cannot be allowed to increase any further. In almost all cases where a fatal fire occurred in a dwelling house, had the house been fitted with an automatic sprinkler system then the death would have been prevented."

He called on every local authority to follow Angus County, which will fit sprinklers in all new social housing from next year. Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said the figures were "a matter of concern" and Liberal Democrat Health spokesman, Ross Finnie MSP, said, "We support calls for the increased use of sprinkler systems".

Belgian Industrial Bakery Destroyed by Fire

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 15:05

Belgian media report that a fire on Sunday, 26th October has badly damaged La Lorraine industrial bakery in Ninove, Brussels. The fire brigade was called at 05:19. Due to a concern about a possible release of ammonia, 500 people were evacuated from their homes. The company had tanks storing 8,000 litres of ammonia but the fire brigade managed to prevent the fire from spreading to these tanks.

The fire started in one of the ovens and spread to four ovens. Most of the buildings on the site, which employs 400 people, were destroyed and the damage is estimated to be in the millions of Euros. It has been confirmed to me that there were no sprinklers fitted on this site.

Bakery fires are not uncommon. A fire at Roberts Bakery in Leeds, UK, caused £25 million damage and led to a decision to fit sprinklers when the factory was rebuilt. When an oil leak caused another fire at this bakery in March 2006, it was controlled by a single sprinkler and only 15 minutes of production time was lost. By contrast the Moulin Bleu bakery in Lomme, France was destroyed by a fire in May 2006, with a loss of €30 million. Similarly, the 10,000m2 Délices du Palais biscuit factory in Renaison, France was destroyed by a fire in July 2007.

Sprinkler Saves Swedish Shopping Centre

Friday, 24 October 2008 12:50

Gösta Holmstedt reports that at 05:44 on Monday, 15th September an automatic alarm was sent from a shopping centre to the SOS Alarm centre in Västerås, 90km north-west of Stockholm.

The fire brigade arrived within ten minutes and found that some oily rags had self-ignited but that the fire had been put out by a single sprinkler. A few hours later the shopping centre opened as normal.

The Managing Director of the shopping centre was delighted that the sprinkler system had worked so well.

Fire Injures 7 in German Home for Elderly

Monday, 06 October 2008 12:53

The Hamburger Abendblatt reports that a fire in a home for the elderly on the Poppenbütteler Weg early on 3rd October has led to six residents and a female fire-fighter being taken to hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire began when a tea-light set fire to an item of bedroom furniture. 75 fire-fighters helped to evacuate the 30 residents. Although the fire was quickly extinguished by the fire brigade the smoke filled three storeys and the building is unusable.

In Scandinavia, The Netherlands and Scotland many new care homes and homes for the elderly are fitted with sprinklers to give additional time for evacuation. Guidance from The Netherlands specifies that two people must at all times be able to reach the room where the fire starts within two minutes of the alarm being raised. In the UK the guidance is similar at 2.5 minutes. If this is not possible an acceptable way to provide more time for evacuation is to control the fire with a sprinkler system. This will greatly reduce the production of smoke or even put out the fire.

USA Votes for Sprinklers in all New Homes

Monday, 22 September 2008 11:57

On Sunday, 21st September, the International Code Council, which writes the building codes used in most jurisdictions in the United States, voted to require sprinklers in all new single family homes and all other new residential construction. The requirement would take effect in 2011.

This is a major step towards sprinklers being fitted in all new homes in the US. The next step is for the 50 states individually to adopt the new code. While there is no guarantee they will do so, commentators have observed that if they do not they will leave themselves open to lawsuits should anyone die in a fire in a home built after 2011 without sprinklers.

This change was achieved despite heavy counter-lobbying by the house-building industry, which had managed to get the proposal rejected in committee. To overturn the committee decision required a 66% majority vote among the government representatives. Government representatives include fire departments and building code officials. The final result was 73% in favour of sprinklers.

For many years the US has required that sprinklers be fitted in all new buildings, with the exception of single family homes. As elsewhere in the world, that is where most fire deaths occur, so over time this measure will drastically reduce fire deaths in the US, repeating the experience of Scottsdale, Vancouver and hundreds of smaller jurisdictions in North America that already require sprinklers in all new residential construction.

Channel Tunnel Fire

Monday, 15 September 2008 18:49

Many of you will have heard about the fire in the Channel Tunnel on Thursday. This is the third fire to have closed the tunnel since it opened in 1994. Today, three days later, one bore is open and there is claimed to be a service operating at 1/3 capacity. It could be some time before full capacity is restored.

From news reports it appears that the fire began in the brakes of a truck but this has yet to be confirmed. What we do know is that the freight train was not fitted with a fire suppression system. We also know that several years ago a water mist fire suppression system was designed and passed a series of fire tests for Eurotunnel but it was never installed. Had this system been present it is unlikely that one bore of the tunnel would be closed today.

EFSN Offers Online Training Seminars

Thursday, 14 August 2008 12:22

The European Fire Sprinkler Network is now offering a series of online training seminars.

The first series will comprise seven seminars. Participants can register online at www.eurosprinkler.org. The seminars are €200 or €100 for members. The first seminar will be held on Monday, 8th September at 15:00 Central European Time (14:00 UK time).

Arson Fire Destroys School in UK

Saturday, 09 August 2008 13:52

fire1 The need for sprinklers in schools was reinforced following a fire in the St Felix Middle School in Newmarket, eastern England, on 6th August. The fire started at about 15:00 and destroyed the school. Two boys aged 13 and 14 have been held by police.

Sprinklers Save Timber Processing Plant

Thursday, 07 August 2008 10:40

fire2 Steve Mills of West Midlands Fire & Rescue Service reports that just after midday on 24th June a fire started at Arden Wood Shavings, a timber processing plant in Solihull, UK.

Fire Destroys Pier at UK Seaside Resort

Monday, 28 July 2008 10:23

fire3 News media report that fire is destroying the pier at Weston-super-Mare in southwest England.

<< Start < Prev 11 12 13 14 15 Next > End >>

Page 13 of 15