Successful Sprinkler Stop in the West Midlands:
At 2020 hrs on the 7th March 2008, a fire occurred in large furniture manufacturing unit on secure industrial estate. The seat of fire centred about a workbench in the centre of the premises. The sprinkler system operated successfully and contained the fire to the workbench area and adjacent corridor. Fire did spread to goods stored against a steel wall in the adjacent corridor due to conduction and radiated heat.
The operation of 5 sprinkler heads in the workshop and corridor prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby store containing foam and seat cushions. 2 BA wearers extinguished the remnants of the fire with a single hose reel jet.
The operation of the hard wired smoke detection system successfully raised the alarm. The cause of fire was determined to be accidental and appeared to have started in an extension lead.
On Monday 10th March Bob Bennett, Managing Director of the affected company said:
‘We are a Company with an annual turnover of £10 million. At times it seemed that paying for installation, maintenance and testing of the sprinkler system was a bit over the top but we are delighted that it has paid dividends for us now.
We do have contingency plans in the event of major disruption but we would not have been able to cope with the loss of the factory. In my opinion the sprinkler system saved us from a major loss and damage was limited to about 50 square feet by the operation of just 5 heads.
The sprinkler system worked brilliantly for us and though we have suffered slight damage to one machine, we are working normally after having a good tidy up during the weekend.’
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