Dorset & Wiltshire firefighters tackle 66 school blazes in the last 5 years
There's a campaign to get sprinklers fitted in schools
In the last five years’ firefighters have been called to 66 blazes at schools in Dorset and Wiltshire, with two resulting in significant damage and 16 logged as being started deliberately.
Just three of the schools they were called to had sprinklers installed, something that's mandatory in all new and major refubished school buildings in Scotland and Wales.
Insurance company, Zurich Municipal is now campaigning to change the law to require the same to be true in England to avoid devastating financial and educational consequences.
They've launched a petition urging MP's to review the law.
Tilden Watson, Zurich Municipal’s Head of Education, said:
"An alarming number of school buildings pose a high fire risk - yet many are poorly protected against a potential blaze. Unless Ministers bring England into line with other parts of the UK, large fires will continue to blight schools. This is harming children’s education and putting lives at risk.
"As well as protecting pupils, sprinklers drastically reduce the extent of damage when there is a blaze, often confining the fire to a single room. It costs far more to repair fire-ravaged schools than it does to install sprinklers. Even so, cash strapped schools cannot be expected to pick up the bill.
"The government’s COVID-19 investment is a critical opportunity to ensure schools are more resilient to fire. Unless minsters change the law on sprinklers, much of this funding will be wasted on repairing the fire damage that sprinklers could have easily prevented.”
The insurance company say many schools also lack the equipment needed to prevent small fires becoming major disasters.
Of more than 1,000 school inspections carried out by Zurich, 66% were rated as having ‘poor’ fixed fire protection systems, such as sprinklers. A further quarter (24%) were judged ‘poor’ for fire detection measures, such as smoke detectors and fire alarms.
Nationally, firefighters have been called to nearly 2,000 school blazes in the last three years. Malfunctioning appliances or equipment, faulty electrics and kitchen blazes are among the leading causes of fire.
It is estimated that larger fires in schools cost on average £2.8 million to repair and in some cases over £20 million.
In June, Boris Johnson pledged £1bn to fund a decade long school rebuilding and repair programme and a further £560m in early August. Zurich wants the government to ring-fence some of this promised investment to improve the resilience of schools at high risk of fire. Insurers work closely with schools to help them manage their fire risks but the installation of sprinklers minimise the dangers from the outset.
Group Manager Tim Gray, from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Protection department, said:
“We recognise the importance of sprinkler protection in schools and actively campaign for their inclusion in all school buildings. As the recent Zurich Insurance report shows, in the last five years we have attended 66 fires in schools where only three were fitted with sprinkler protection.
"The effect of a fire on the school, its students and staff and the wider community cannot be underestimated.
"Rebuilding costs, disruption and loss of crucial course work all add to the significant impact that fire damage can cause. We strongly support the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) call for amendment of BB100 (Design for Fire safety in Schools) to require sprinkler protection in new and refurbished schools.”