Fire Sprinklers 96% effective

A major new report published by the NFPA has just been published which includes statistics on how often sprinkler are installed, and there effectives.  The report also shows that almost 5% of the homes have sprinkler and 20% of homes built in the previous four years have sprinkler fitted.

You can read the full document U.S. EXPERIENCE WITH SPRINKLERS

"The difference between life and death,"

"The difference between life and death," is how one fire service has described the use of automatic sprinklers in homes.

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue service is supporting calls from the Chief Fire Officers Association for a change in the law to force all new homes to be fitted with the sprinklers.

BBC News - Warwickshire Fire Service makes case for sprinkler law

Domestic Sprinkler not it again

Fire sprinkler in the home do work!

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Domestic sprinkler contains fire in Wiltshire house 12 January 2011 A house in Trowbridge escaped being badly damaged by fire last week, thanks to the activation of a domestic sprinkler system. Fire crews were called to the property shortly after 6.30pm, but found the blaze had been extinguished by sprinklers. As a result, damage was minimal and, said Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, there was no risk to the occupants who were downstairs at the time. Although the exact cause of the fire remains unclear, there were no suspicious circumstances. The Studley Green estate is said to have been the first housing development in Europe to be fitted with domestic sprinklers following its rebuild in 1999. Read more at www.info4fire.com

 

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Restaurant owner pays over £13,000 for fire safety breaches

Restaurant owner pays over £13,000 for fire safety breaches

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The former joint proprietor of a restaurant which also included sleeping accommodation for staff has been fined £8,600 and ordered to pay £4,837 in costs for 12 fire safety breaches. Patipat Kansikam of the Red Lion (Pad Thai) restaurant in Wokingham pleaded guilty last month to the offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, but the case was adjourned to 6 April for sentencing. Read more at www.info4fire.com

 

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Penhallow Hotel company pleads guilty to fire safety charges

The company that owned the Penhallow Hotel where three people died in a fire in August 2007 has admitted breaches of fire safety legislation.

O & C Holdsworth plc pleaded guilty to two offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment; and failing to ensure the hotel was properly equipped with detectors and alarms. The company pleaded not guilty to a third charge of failing to ensure the safety of relevant persons.  The case has been adjourned to 4 May when O & C Holdsworth plc is due be sentenced.

Last year, an inquest into the deaths of the three guests – Joan Harper, Monica Hughes and Peter Hughes, all from Staffordshire – returned an open verdict.

Warwickshire Fire Service managers are to face charges of manslaughter

The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that 3 Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service managers are to face charges of manslaughter by gross negligence, for the deaths of four firefighters in a warehouse in Atherstone-on-Stour, in 2007. Ian Reid, John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Bradley all died in the fire at Wealmoor Ltd, November 2, 2007.


Read More: Warwickshire Fire Service managers are to face charges of manslaughter | Fire Magazine

Fire contractor fined £5,000 for poor work.

In what is thought to be the first case of its kind, a fire system contractor has been convicted under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.  Christopher Morris, 56, of Llandudno, a former retained firefighter, appeared at Manchester Crown Court yesterday and was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 costs.

Last week at Trafford Magistrates Court, Mr Morris pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to maintain a fire detection and alarm system at a care home in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and failing to inform the owners of the deficiencies in the system.

Magistrates heard that enforcement officers commissioned a specialist examination of the fire alarm panel after a fire at the care home in May 2009. Among the deficiencies found were:

• A blown fuse overridden with a piece of wire
• An electronic component suspended between two terminal bocks instead of being attached to the circuit board
• An alarm silence/fault warning buzzer missing from the circuit board
• The fault warning light on the front face of the panel had been almost covered by paint

According to the prosecution, Christopher Morris, an electrician who had taken over the maintenance of the system in 2006, had issued several annual certificates of worthiness to the care home owner.
Deputy county fire officer, Jim Owen, said: “Whilst many owners have been prosecuted under the Fire Safety Order, this may be the first time a fire and rescue authority has prosecuted someone contracted by the owner of a property to maintain a fire alarm. Taking on such a contract extends the requirements of the Order to the fire alarm engineer. Anyone we find who doesn’t carry out their work to recognised standards is a danger, and we won’t hesitate to take action.”

Read more (infoforfire) 

Sprinklers Prevent Serious Fire

Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service Reports:

A house in Trowbridge escaped being badly damaged by fire last week, thanks to an innovative fire safety system.

The Studley Green estate was the first housing development in Europe to be fitted with domestic sprinklers, following its rebuild in 1999. On Thursday 6 January, a property in Kingswood Chase had its sprinklers activated when fire broke out in a first floor bedroom.

Two crews from Trowbridge fire station were called to the address at 6.38pm, but found the blaze had been extinguished by the sprinklers. As a result, the fire damage was minimal, and there was no risk to the house's occupants, who were downstairs at the time. Although the exact cause of the fire remains unclear, there were no suspicious circumstances.

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Care home severely damaged by fire

Around 45 firefighters have tackled a blaze at a timber frame building used as residential care home for disabled people.

The fire started in the roof of the chalet-style building, in Barham, near Canterbury. The fire, reported around 11.30 on 9 November, spread quickly throughout the building. The home is a residential care home for the disabled, but was empty at the time. Fire crews had the incident under control by 1.30pm. An aerial ladder platform remained on the scene until after 9pm, to dampen down hotspots on the roof. Most - if not all - of the residents’ possessions were destroyed.

Sprinkler System works again

A sprinkler system has contained what may have been a major fire at a factory in Staffordshire.
Around 50 staff were evacuated from IMI Norgren in Lichfield after an industrial press caught fire in the early hours of Wednesday 27 October. Some 40 firefighters were called to deal with the incident, but the activation of the sprinklers meant that they were not all needed.

The damage was limited to the machinery and some slight heat damage to the roof directly above. Once the fire was out, crews used hose reel jets to cool the machinery and then ventilated the factory.  Sprinklers are fitted throughout the manufacturing and storage areas of the site.

Speaking later that morning, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service station manager Mick Jahn said: "The activation of the sprinklers meant we were able to quickly bring the fire under control and allow some of the appliances to leave the incident, so they were available for other emergencies. We would probably still be there dealing the fire now had the sprinklers not been in use.

"We’d urge all businesses to fit sprinkler systems. As this incident has highlighted they do prevent the spread of fires, and so minimise the economic cost of a fire - which is even more important during these difficult financial times."

Poundstretcher fined £55,000 over fire escapes

Only one out of six fire exits could be used in a busy bargain store, Leeds Crown Court was told, and the consequences of a fire at Poundstretcher in Castleford could have been "frankly appalling," said Judge Jonathan Rose.

The store on Carlton Street would have been a "death trap," he declared. Yesterday the judge fined the firm a total of £51,500 with £3,449 costs for seven breaches of the Fire Safety Order 2005. He pointed out that the business had twice been prosecuted last year for similar breaches at its Halifax and Wakefield stores and had been fined a total of £20,500 for those offences.

These convictions were warnings to the company but were not enough to make Poundstretcher do an urgent review of fire safety in its other stores, said the judge. "Poundstretcher had not put their house in order by October 7, 2009, when, as a result of a chance passing by a fire safety officer, it was observed that the Castleford store was failing in its duties," he said. Toni Wharton, prosecuting, said that combustible material was stored en route to one fire exit and trolleys blocked another. Persons who used a ground floor exit could have been trapped in a stairwell "like a tin of beans," she said.

Yorkshire Post

Three children died in house fire

Three children have sadly died in a house fire after a fire broke out at Clarence Avenue, Bridlington, shortly before midnight. Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said the children, one girl and two boys aged three, five and nine, died. The children's mother Samantha Hudson, 27, is said to be in a serious but stable condition at Scarborough General Hospital.

Mark Rhodes, head of operations for Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, said it was too early to establish the cause. He said: "We were faced at the time with a very severe house fire. Now this is a typical sort of three-storey terraced property, fire on the ground floor but very intense, very dense smoke logging right throughout the property.

Fire sprinkler for underground car parks

An underground car park in the Dutch City of Haarlem has been severely damaged by a fire which also destroyed at least 26 cars.

According to the European Fire Sprinkler Network (EFSN), smoke from the fire spread to a court building and concert theatre, and heat from the fire damaged the structure of the car park.

The news website Dutchnews.nl reported that the fire broke out last Tuesday evening and led to the evacuation of nearby hotels and cafes. The fire brigade eventually got the blaze under control by flooding the lower deck of the car park.

EFSN also reports that Cynthia Ortega-Martijn, a Dutch member of parliament, has called for a change in the law so that hospitals, care homes, schools and car parks are fitted with sprinklers.

Fire sprinkler system save lives in warehouse fire

THE lives of around 120 people were saved thanks to a sprinkler system that activated during a warehouse fire in Walsall.

The alarm was raised at 7.12pm last Thursday at discount store Hootys Supplies in Longacres, Willenhall. Four crews were sent to tackle the blaze, which involved large quantities of packaging materials stored on shelves below a mezzanine floor at the back of the large two-storey prefabricated premises.
The sprinklers in the immediate area helped contain the fire.

Station commander Mick Shears said: “This incident demonstrates just how important sprinklers are.

“The system stopped the fire from spreading to the retail area at the front of the building, prevented a more serious blaze and helped safeguard the lives of more than 100 people in the store at the time.”