Birmingham High Rise Sprinkler Save

• Date: – 29 October 2021
• Location: – Bromford
• Occupancy: -High rise residential block
• Number of floors:-13
• Fire & Rescue Service: – West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS)

WMFS, have reported that a fire within a 6^th floor flat was extinguished by the residential sprinkler system, with no casualties reported.

It should not be understated, the importance of focusing on Business Continuity by management allowing an effective response when designing, installing a residential sprinkler system for the following reasons: –

• Safeguards to prevent any significant impact from an unwanted significant incident such as a fire and the knock-on effect this can have on the occupancy.
• Information for crews is paramount, attending crews may have to interact with these systems and therefore need accurate, concise, and up to date information when developing firefighting tactics.
• Specifically identifying where the sprinkler isolation valves are located.

It is therefore disappointing that Birmingham Live reported that the sprinkler system flooded a number of flats on the floors below.

It should be remembered for the above-mentioned incident:

• The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system
• No injuries were reported
• The fire was contained to the compartment of origin, flashover prevented

A Correctly designed and installed sprinkler system can detect and control a fire at an early stage of development and activate an  alarm

Links

• BAFSA, webinar recordings now available:-

1. Towards a greater understanding of BS9251: 2021 (Fire sprinkler systems for domestic and residential occupancies)
2. BS EN 14972 Fixed firefighting systems. Water mist systems. Part 1.

Click here to open

• WMFS twitter feed
• Birmingham Live

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