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London Primary School Sprinkler Activation

January 20

Summary

On 23 August 2025, London Fire Brigade responded to six emergency calls reporting a fire at a primary school. Fire crews from nearby stations were dispatched at 00:08 hours. Upon arrival, the incident commander identified a fire located on the third floor of the building, impacting a constructed timber-framed extension located on the school’s green roof. One sprinkler head activated on the floor of origin, working in unison with fire crews to contain, control the fire. The fire was extinguished by firefighters using jets, 50% of the extension was damaged by fire.

The fire is being treated as accidental, with investigations indicating that it was likely caused by hot works carried out during construction activities on the extension earlier that day resulting in a concealed fire within the fabric of the building, no injuries were reported. A sprinkler activation is categorised as an event where one or more sprinkler heads have activated and contained, controlled, or, in some cases, extinguished a building fire. This incident provides further evidence of the effectiveness, benefits of sprinklers as part of a comprehensive fire safety strategy.

When you read real life tangible examples of where fire sprinklers have actuated containing, controlling or even in some cases extinguishing school fires, you ask yourself why sprinklers are still not mandatory for newly constructed school buildings in England with the benefits they bring protecting: –

  • The school, in terms of life safety/property.
  • The environment reducing Co2 emissions.
  • Students course work, teachers teaching aids, resources
  • Vital local community resource.

Working with the National Fire Chiefs Council, (NFCC) the National Fire Sprinkler Network, and our Automatic Water Suppression System (AWSS) colleagues we gather evidence of these incidents as a valuable tool highlighting the benefits of AWSS providing vital evidence of the reliability and effectiveness of AWSS adding further weight to the report conducted by 1Optimal economics into the performance, reliability and effectiveness of AWSS.

Providing further evidence supporting our long-standing campaign to increase the presence of sprinklers within the built environment by highlighting real life tangible examples of where AWSS were present and had an impact. As such, each of these stories provide powerful evidence of the ability of AWSS protecting our communities from fire. The outcome of which will influence policymakers to implement change,

Parameters of the sprinkler system

The objective of the AWSS is to detect a fire in its early stages and extinguish it over the affected area of the floor with water in the room of origin, or to contain the fire so that it can be effectively extinguished by other means. For this incident, the concealment of the fire allowed it to develop and spread unnoticed for an undetermined period, ultimately resulting in the emergence of the fire. The consequences of this event had the potential to exceed the systems design and operational parameters. Nevertheless, one sprinkler head activated on the floor of origin contributing to containing the fire preventing further fire spread.

Legislation

The installation of AWSS It is a requirement in Scotland and a condition of government funding in Wales, but despite the rising number of school fires since the lockdowns of 22020/21 there is no requirement in England or Northern Ireland for the installation of sprinklers in schools.The NFCC report that in May 2021, the government announced a proposal to make the installation of sprinklers mandatory in new schools over 11m in height, However, given that only a few schools currently meet this threshold, the benefits of this proposal are likely to be limited. When replying to the consultation on these proposals, the NFCC was clear that their strongly held belief is that they constitute a lessening of standards from previous guidance.

The original guidance, when first released in 2007, acknowledged the important role of sprinklers and stated that “all new schools should have fire sprinklers installed except in a few low-risk schools.” The proposed changes in the guidance are a retrograde step and represent a real lessening of standards in this area. Now approaching over 4 years since the government first consulted on a revised version of Building Bulletin 100: design for fire safety in schools, we are still waiting for a decision to be announced.

Myths & Misconceptions

It is disappointing to read a council news press release referencing that the whole building suffered water damage, primarily due to the sprinklers being activated contributing to the site being unusable, for context jets were deployed by LFB to extinguish the fire with only 1 sprinkler head activating. In comparison water damage from a fire sprinkler system will be far less severe than the damage caused by water from firefighter jets/hoses. Modern sprinklers operate very quickly to release 45 – 200 litres of water per minute, compared to 700 – 4000 litres per minute discharged by fire service hoses and jets.

Business Recovery Plan

Firefighters are increasingly likely to respond to incidents in buildings equipped with sprinkler systems, it is therefore critical for building managers and duty holders to integrate an effective business recovery plan into the premises’ emergency protocols. The benefit of which will allow the fire service to efficiently manage water following sprinkler system activation during a fire or in the rare event of accidental discharge, thereby mitigating potential disruptions to business operations or occupancy.

Conclusion

  • The sprinkler system contributed to preventing conflagration of the school building, protecting a valuable community resource.
  • The importance of an onsite business recovery plan for firefighters to respond to incidents in buildings equipped with sprinkler systems to manage the release of water.
  • The installation of sprinklers in news schools in England should be made mandatory regardless of height.
  • Providing further supporting evidence to under pin BAFSA’s advocacy, turning operational evidence into persuasive tools for policy and parliamentary engagement, and reinforcing the case for wider sprinkler inclusion within national building policy.

Lobbying for change

Effective advocacy and policy lobbying require the collection of robust supporting evidence. If you have knowledge of a sprinkler incident that may contribute to this initiative, please provide the pertinent details using the sprinkler activation reporting form available at www.sprinklersaves.co.uk.

Sources/further reading

Details

Date:
January 20

Venue

London