Tuesday, 09 March 2010
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Foam Systems Standard - BS EN 135665

BSI has published BS EN 13565-2:2009 Fixed fire fighting systems - Foam systems Part 2: design, construction and maintenance.

 
New BS EN 12845

It has been announced that a new version of the LPC rules which will include BS En 12845:2009 will be published by the FPA.  The new publication will included a number of changes and revisions to a number of technical bulletins. It is also expected that changes will be made to the EN 12845 standard in 2010 and 2001.

 
UK Fire Service College Loses Fire Engines in Fire

The UK's elite Fire Service College in Morton in Marsh has lost 11 fire engines and a workshop area estimated to be worth £1.3 million pounds in a catastrophic fire on the 16 May 2009.

Over 60 fire fighters tried to bring the fire under control and to save the fire engines but without success.  The building was not fitted with a fire sprinkler system which would have saved the building and the fire engines.  A number of UK fire services have now fitted fire sprinklers to fire stations, training facilities and HQ buildings but unfortunately the Fire Service College was not one of them.       

 
School Fire - Crawshaw School, Pudsey, Leeds

Armstrong Priestley reports that an arson fire at Crawshaw School occurred on 27 May 2009. The contents of rubbish bins were piled against the doors of a plant room and ignited.  Two sprinkler heads operated and extinguished the fire before the arrival of the fire service. The system was reinstated by replacing two heads. 

 
Sprinkler reliability proven in Denmark

The Danish Institute of Fire & Security Technology has published the results of a survey of over 500 sprinkler systems installed in Denmark and found that they had a 98% reliabilit!

Read more...
 
Committed to the Development

Canute is commented to the development of Hydraulic Analysis Software for the fire protection industry and has announced that they are to develop a new software suite. It is hoped the new product will be available in time for the launch of Windows 7 in December 2009.

 
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  • Employers of retained firefighters officially recognised

    Businesses are to be formally praised for steps taken to fight fire in local communities, fire minister and MP for Dewsbury, Shahid Malik has said.

  • New fire standard for modern construction systems launched

    A new standard for the fire testing, performance and classification of modern building systems has been launched by LPCB.

  • National Portrait Gallery safeguards its collection

    The National Portrait Gallery, London, which is famous for its extensive collection of art, has installed a fire prevention system.

  • Radio tagging keeps tabs on firefighters

    IT experts at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have been working with the Service’s incident command team to create a fully-automated system using electronic tags to help keep track of firefighters, vehicles and equipment.

  • Hotel company convicted of fire safety offences

    A company that owned a London hotel has been ordered to pay more than £21,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to six offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

  • Female student has died in a fire

    The Dutch media reports that a female student has died in a fire in a student house in Groningen, in the north of The Netherlands. The fire service was called at about 07:30 but it was not until midday that fire-fighters could enter the building, which was completely burnt out.

    The 19 year old student and six other students were in the building. Two of the six students were taken to hospital. The student house in the Oude Ebbingestraat was a former shop and an historical building near the market square in the town centre.

  • Aurora care home in Seville

    Spanish media reports that seven people have died in a fire in the Aurora care home in Seville. The fire brigade was called just after midnight on the morning of 9th February. Investigators have established that it was caused by an electrical fault in a bed designed for the disabled. Four more of the 19 residents remain in hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

    Seville City Hall has declared three days of morning. According to news bulletins on Spanish television the home was new and met all the fire safety regulations. Sprinklers are not required in care homes in Spain but after this fire the evening news programmes discussed the benefits of sprinklers, with an interview of Emilio Rodriguez, owner of the sprinkler contractor Pacisa.

  • Sprinkler Protected Car Stacker Fire Test

    The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) requested BRE Global carry out a test to investigate the effect of a sprinkler system on the growth and spread of a fire in and between cars in a car park stacking system. This request followed the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Sustainable Buildings Division research programme titled Fire Spread in Car Parks. BAFSA wished to carry out an additional test using the CLG Car Stacker Rig in order to demonstrate the effect that a sprinkler system would have on the fire.

    The test was designed to replicate the test carried out under the CLG program of research, but with the addition of a sprinkler system, designed and installed by BAFSA.

    It is BRE Global's understanding that the system was designed by the client to be as consistent as possible with the prescriptive guidance given in BS EN 12845, LPC Sprinkler Rules. However, sprinkler protection of real car stackers will require the installation of a sprinkler system on a number of levels depending on the height of the storage. It was therefore considered appropriate by BAFSA to trial a number of hydraulic designs and sprinkler heads prior to the fire test.

    Ian Gough, BAFSA commented “Fire sprinklers have been successfully protecting lives and property, including car parks, for many years; however, hazards and risks can quickly change. It is important that the fire sprinkler industry recognises such changes and is confident that the sprinklers systems installed always provide effective and efficient protection. This work carried out by BRE Global provides valuable information for sprinkler contractors, specifiers and others with an interest in these new and innovative parking systems.”

    See the full report at PDF Report

  • Sprinklers to Welsh Homes

    The Welsh Assembly Members voted unanimously today voted in support of Ann Jones AM’s bid to make the installation of sprinkler systems mandatory in Wales’s new homes.

    The Vale of Clwyd AM’s proposal has been described as historic by Chief Fire Officers across Wales and numerous organisations in the Fire Safety field including the National Fire Sprinkler Network.

    Since introducing the Assembly’s first ever backbench Legislative Competence Order (LCO), Ann Jones has won the full support of amongst others, the Welsh Assembly Government, Wales’ 3 Fire Services and the FBU.

    With overwhelming supportive evidence from the expert and industry community, Mrs Jones’s LCO successfully received approval from cross party Committees in both Wales and Westminster.

    Read more at www.bafsa.org.uk

  • Fire in Dutch Detention Centre

    It has been repoted by the Dutch press that a 32-year-old man in a detention centre for illegal immigrants set fire to his cell. The detention centre was fitted with sprinklers and two sprinkler operated and extinguished the fire. 44 prisoners and staff were evacuated and 16 people were treated at the scene for the effects of minor smoke inhalation. Nobody was seriously injured and the damage was limited.