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Fire destroys Theatre in Helmond, Netherlands |
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Tuesday, 10 January 2012 15:02 |
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Dutch media report that on 29th December a fire destroyed Het Speelhuis theatre in Helmond. The fire was reported at 18:00 and led to the evacuation of tens of neighbouring homes. The theatre was designed by Pieter Blom in the 1970s and was listed as a state monument. It was not fitted with sprinklers. This incident follows a fire on 7th December which destroyed the historical centre of Kampen. |
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Hamburg Rubber Factory Destroyed by Fire |
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Tuesday, 10 January 2012 15:00 |
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Die Welt reports that a fire on 2nd January has destroyed a 3,000m2 warehouse in Harburg, near Hamburg. The building was used by H.D. Cotterell to store rubber. Witnesses said the flames rose 30-40m and the smoke was visible kilometres away all over Hamburg. Roads were closed as 200 fire-fighters worked to prevent spread to neighbouring buildings. There was no report of a sprinkler system in the building. |
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John van Lierop - EFSN Country Manager The Netherlands |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:27 |
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I am delighted to announce that at its recent board meeting in Amsterdam, the International Fire Sprinkler Association approved co-funding of a Country Manager in The Netherlands for the EFSN. Funding will be matched by the Dutch Organisation for Fire Safety, NOVB. The role will be filled by John van Lierop, a former director with the sprinkler contractor Burgers Ergon, who currently works for NOVB on a variety of fire safety initiatives. John's background, knowledge of the Dutch fire safety sector and interpersonal skills make him the ideal person for this new role. He will take up his new duties in January, reporting to me and periodically to the board members of the NOVB and Rob Hartgerink, its Managing Director. The time is right to strengthen our sprinkler campaigns in The Netherlands, where this month two senior fire officers have issued a public call for sprinklers in homes and businesses. John will also support our campaigns in Belgium, where interest in sprinklers among officials and fire officers is growing.
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Sprinklers Save IKEA European Warehouse |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:25 |
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The Dattelner Morgenpost reports that a fire in the IKEA European Warehouse near Dortmund, Germany, was rapidly extinguished with the help of the building's sprinkler system. The fire detection system alerted the fire brigade at 17:34 on Thursday, 13th October. The fire brigade arrived with two engines to find that the sprinkler system had controlled the fire. Boris Thiemrodt of the fire brigade said that they were soon able to complete extinguishment. They then had to clear the rack in which the fire started, take embers outside for extinguishment and ventilate smoke out of the building. The fire brigade left at 20:15. The rack in which the fire started was 12m high but some are over 30m high. This is the largest IKEA warehouse in Europe and employs 1,000 people to operate around the clock sending goods to stores across the continent. |
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Deaths in Unsprinklered French Care Homes |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:24 |
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French media report that on 4th November a woman of 83 died in a fire in a home for the elderly in Lisieux in the north-west of France. Four people, including two police officers, were injured while 33 people were evacuated. Later the same month, on 18th November two men aged 70 and 82 died in a fire in a home for the elderly in La Rochefoucauld, near Angoulême. This time eleven people were taken to hospital, one seriously injured. |
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Man Dies in Jump from Burning Berlin High-Rise |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:23 |
Der Spiegel reports that a man has died after jumping into a fire brigade mattress from the ninth floor of a high-rise apartment building in Berlin. According to a fire brigade spokesman, fire had blocked the exit from the man's apartment and his only option was to jump from his balcony. However, this approach is not really suitable for a jump from such a height. In Germany most new commercial buildings higher than 22m are fitted with sprinklers but for apartment buildings the height threshold is usually 60m, which is up to 20 storeys.
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Primary School Loses Assembly Hall in Fire |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:21 |
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The BBC reports that Powerstock Primary School, near Bridport in Dorset, UK, has lost its main hall due to a fire. An electrical fault in a some computer room is believed to have started the fire, which was reported at 06:30 on Monday, 24th October. The school, which was built over a century ago and is therefore unsprinklered, was closed for the half-term holiday. Hundreds of schools in the UK have suffered serious fires, some accidental such as this one and some deliberate. Many new schools have therefore been fitted with sprinkler systems and government guidance strongly recommends their use. Insurers also offer much lower premiums for sprinklered schools.
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Potato Crisp Factory Saved by Sprinkler System |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:18 |
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Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service reports that on 9th October it was called at 09:58 to a potato crisp factory in Bagington. On arrival fire-fighters found that one sprinkler had controlled the fire, restricting damage to an area of 18m2, of a total of 20,800m2. Area Commander Greg Pace commented that without the action of the sprinkler system it would have been difficult for fire-fighters to reach the fire while wearing breathing apparatus and carrying hoses 30m into a building with complicated equipment. Four years ago four fire-fighters from the same brigade were killed when a fire in an unsprinklered factory of similar construction caused the building to collapse on them. |
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Sprinklers Save Timber-Processing Factory |
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 16:05 |
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Highlands and Islands Fire & Rescue Service reports that a sprinkler system has saved a timber-processing factory in Boat of Garden, Inverness-shire. At around 07:45 on 1st November 2011 a failure occurred in an Acetylene torch manifold. A fire took hold in the workshop area and the Fire and Rescue service was called.
Fortunately the 30m² workshop had sprinklers fitted. 1 head activated to control the fire and just 10% of the workshop was damaged. The incident had the potential to heat the acetylene cylinder and cause a massive explosion. However, the sprinkler system not only controlled the fire but cooled the cylinder, preventing such an outcome.
18 fire-fighters attended the incident and continued to cool the cylinder until there was no longer a risk of explosion .
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