Schools are subject to a wide range of fire risks, including deliberate acts.
They contain large quantities of flammable materials, such as furniture and paper. And during use, there are significant numbers of young people enclosed within a small space.
For all of these reasons, fire safety should be a top priority when building, refurbishing or refitting educational premises.
Base Fire Sprinklers' experience in providing fire sprinkler systems for schools - both newbuild schools and sprinkler retrofits in existing buildings - means we are the ideal partner for education institutions looking to improve pupil safeguarding.
Our full-service fire safety consultancy can identify high-risk areas, design sprinkler systems for awkward shapes (e.g. halls, corridors and L-shaped rooms) and install the required sprinkler heads, water tanks and pipework throughout your school buildings.
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I would like to compliment the engineers that we have met on site who have completed the servicing and repair works on the systems....I cannot find one area where I would be unhappy with the service we have received.
Jack Newell, Weaver Vale Housing Trust
What Are the Fire Risks in Schools?
Fires need a source of ignition, and in schools this can occur in a large number of different places:
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Accidental ignition (e.g. smoking)
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Deliberate ignition (i.e. arson)
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Kitchens (both catering and teaching)
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Science laboratories
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Technology workshops
About 20% of all fires in schools are started deliberately: in December 2022, the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) reported UK fire statistics for educational premises.
The figures showed a total of 1,937 fires in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities in 2018-21, of which 411 were started on purpose.
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Counting the Cost of School Fires
Fires in schools destroy over 200 classrooms each year, according to Zurich Municipal Insurance.
The insurer looked at reports from 2015-20 and found a startling scale of damage due to fires in schools:
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2,300 fire incidents in total
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1,100 classrooms destroyed
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74,000 square metres of facilities damaged
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28,000 pupils' schooling disrupted
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390,000 teaching hours lost
Zurich Municipal's head of education, Tilden Watson, said:
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"It makes no economic sense to pump millions of pounds into refurbishing schools without protecting them with sprinklers. Sprinklers are proven to contain the spread of blazes and limit the damage they inflict."
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How do School Fire Sprinklers Help?
Automatic fire sprinklers activate immediately to contain (and where possible, extinguish) fires before they can spread through educational buildings.
For example, in February to May 2022, three separate school fires in Scotland were started deliberately in the toilets.
In all three, according to the BAFSA report, a single sprinkler head activated and was enough to contain, control or extinguish the fire, preventing damage to adjacent rooms.
This highlights the value of concealed automatic sprinkler heads in schools, especially in unsupervised areas like bathrooms where malicious acts and attempted arson can be more common.
Designing Sprinkler Systems for Schools
Base Fire Sprinklers work with schools, colleges and universities to design, supply and install comprehensive fire sprinkler systems for all at-risk areas in educational premises.
This can include rooms such as kitchens, laboratories and workshops, where there is a greater risk of accidental ignition; unsupervised areas where malicious acts are more likely; and all occupied parts of premises for the highest level of protection.
We use advanced computer modelling techniques to simulate the position of sprinkler heads and the flow rate of water, allowing us to calculate the optimal number of sprinklers and water tank size for each building independently.
This gives you total peace of mind that every corner of your premises is covered, while delivering within the budgets available to schools and colleges.
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Sprinkler Systems for Residential School Buildings
If you operate a boarding school, residential college or a university hall of residence, Base Fire Sprinklers can design suitable sprinkler systems for student accommodation.
We supply concealed sprinkler heads, reducing the visual impact in residential buildings, without compromising on the level of protection for people and property alike.
Our ongoing maintenance contracts also allow us to keep your sprinkler systems in full working order, with regular inspections as required to maintain the highest levels of fire safety throughout your educational premises.
Choose Base Fire Sprinklers for your School Fire Suppression project
To find out more about our fire sprinkler systems for schools and colleges, or to book an initial consultation or an audit of your premises, contact Base Fire Sprinklers today or fill in our online message form, and one of our engineers will be in touch as soon as we can.
