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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251101T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251130T170000
DTSTAMP:20260430T051017
CREATED:20260212T185234Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260212T185334Z
UID:10000551-1761984000-1764522000@www.sprinklersaves.co.uk
SUMMARY:Water Mist Activation Extinguishes Scotland Residential High-Rise Fire
DESCRIPTION: 1Stuart Stevens\, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Chief Officer\, said: \n“The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service welcome the amended regulations and the increased provision of automatic fire suppression systems. This provision is a significant step forward in fire safety and will increase the safety of our communities\, residents and firefighters.” \nSummary \nIn November 2025\, the Scottish Fire Rescue Service (SFRS) responded to a fire in a second-floor flat of a 11-storey high-rise residential building. The fire involving a chip pan was contained and extinguished before the arrival of SFRS following the activation of the building’s water mist system. Two residents sustained minor injuries. \nThe British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) welcomed the Scottish Government decision in 2020 requiring all new build social homes\, flats\, and shared multi-occupied residential buildings in Scotland to be fitted with Automatic Fire Suppression Systems (AFSS) from March 2021. Previously\, this was only required in new purpose-built block of flats above 18m. Nevertheless\, concerns persist regarding the lack of requirements to retrofit existing residential buildings with sprinklers. \nThis incident provides further supporting evidence of the benefits of AFSS to under pin the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association’s (BAFSA) advocacy\, turning operational evidence into persuasive tools for policy and parliamentary engagement\, and reinforcing the case for the retrofitting of sprinklers systems in high-rise residential blocks of flats. \nSupporting our campaign to increase the presence of AWSS 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 provides powerful evidence of the ability of AWSS protecting our communities from fire. \nThe Incident  \n\nA fire originated in the kitchen as a result of a chip pan containing cooking oil.\nUpon entry to the flat\, firefighters established that the fire had been controlled\, contained\, and extinguished by the activation of 1 nozzle head.\nTotal property area damaged by fire was reported to be under 5M2 with post fire ventilation completed by SFRS.\nTwo residents sustained minor injuries.\nMinor water egress was reported effecting the flat of origin and premises below the fire requiring the premises electrics to be made safe.\n\nConclusion \nThis incident reinforces the benefits of AWSS\, in this case water mist which can be used as a form of suppression in buildings where there is an appropriate test protocol in accordance with the relevant standard. Playing a significant role as part of a package of fire safety measures\, reducing the impact of fire on people\, firefighters\, property and the environment. Sprinkler Saves UK promotes the reporting of all types of fire suppression systems. \nIt is noteworthy to learn about the effective activation of a water mist system which successfully achieved its intended functional objectives. \n\nReducing the rate of production of heat and smoke limiting fire growth and ultimately extinguishing the fire.\nLimited the development of the fire to the room of origin.\n\nIf it was for the decision by North Ayrshire Council’s decision to upgrade and retrofit an Automatic Fire Suppression System (AFSS) in this building the outcome of this could have been so much different. \nBAFSA has published a2guide which provides detailed information on the types of water mist systems available\, how they can be used and how to choose the most appropriate one for the selected application. \nWatermist and sprinkler system-a look at the trends \nThe 3Sprinklers Saves Review 2024/2025\, references an article analysing AWSS trends. The report provides insight into the prevalence of AWSS across the country stock by examining primary fire data that recorded the presence and impact of 1764 incidents involving sprinklers\, water mist for the period 2018/19 through 2023/24. \nFor dwelling fires\, the data highlighted that the overall trend for water mist is flat with 49 activations over the six-year period compared to sprinklers with 619. \nEffective advocacy and policy lobbying \nRequire 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. \nReferences\, Sources \n\n1Scottish Government News\, Improved fire safety for new flats and social homes.\n2Water Mist Technical Guide\n3Sprinkler Saves Review 2024/2025\nSprinkler Saves Winter Update\nScottish Fire Rescue Service\, Fire Sprinkler Systems\nNational Fire Chiefs Council AWSS Position Statement\nNational Fire Sprinkler Network Winter Newsletter \n\n             
URL:https://www.sprinklersaves.co.uk/saves/water-mist-activation-extinguishes-scotland-residential-high-rise-fire/
LOCATION:Scotland
CATEGORIES:Home
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251101T000000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251130T000000
DTSTAMP:20260430T051017
CREATED:20260129T094356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T114642Z
UID:10000549-1761955200-1764460800@www.sprinklersaves.co.uk
SUMMARY:Retrofitted sprinkler system extinguishes fire in West Midlands residential tall building
DESCRIPTION:Image credit Wolverhampton Homes living room seat of the fire\n‘The safety of residents is our top priority. We are working with customers and partners such as West Midlands Fire Service\, to ensure that residents are safe from fire at all times. Installing sprinklers in our tower blocks has proven to not only to save lives\, but also minimises damage to the flat and protects firefighters in tackling what could have been a large blaze.’\nNick Lacey\, Building Safety Manager at Wolverhampton Homes\nBackground \nWolverhampton Homes reported this fire and reiterated its commitment to installing sprinklers\, enabling this positive news story to reach a broader audience. By clearly demonstrating the advantages of sprinkler systems in residential fires\, this outcome will entice other stakeholders and housing providers to follow is lead and install sprinklers\, thereby enhancing fire protection for our communities. \nFollowing the tragic fire at Grenfell tower\, the City of Wolverhampton Council took the decision as part of their high-rise infrastructure programme to include the retrofitting of sprinklers in all 36 high-rise tower blocks\, with all but one managed by Wolverhampton Homes. They were built between 1960 and 1973 to provide large numbers of social housing on tight footprints. \nIn the autumn of 2025\, West Midlands Fire Rescue Service (WMFRS) responded to a fire in a high-rise purpose-built block of flats. The buildings sprinkler system activated\, thereby containing\, controlling and extinguishing a small living room fire. No injuries were reported. \nDemonstrating the effectiveness of sprinklers in controlling fires at an early stage\, significantly reducing the risk to life\, limiting fire spread and minimising property damage\, preventing the fire from spreading further preventing flash over allowing a positive outcome. \nIf it was not for the decision by the City of Wolverhampton Council to retrofit sprinklers in their high-rise property portfolio\, the outcome of this incident could have been so different. \nA 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. \nProviding further weight to the reliability and effectiveness of sprinkler systems following the report conducted by 1Optimal Economics and commissioned by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC)\, National Fire Sprinkler Network into the performance\, reliability\, and effectiveness of sprinkler systems in controlling and extinguishing fires. \nThe Incident \nA fire that started in the living room of a one-bedroom unit within a 16-story residential purpose-built block of flats was caused by discarded smoking materials. The blaze was effectively contained\, controlled\, and extinguished in its original location by the activation of a single sidewall sprinkler head before WMFRS arrived. However\, because the internal doors were left open\, smoke spread throughout the flat. \nThe images identify that the resident maintained poor housekeeping\, with significant disorganisation and clutter throughout the living space with smoking paraphernalia on display. The NFCC report smoking is one of the top causes of accidental dwelling fires in the Uk. Nationally\, it remains the top cause of accidental fire deaths. In the event of a fire\, these conditions could have accelerated its spread\, compromising the means of escape from the flat to a place of safety. \nFortunately\, in this instance\, the sprinkler system was present\, activated controlling the fire’s development and significantly reducing heat and smoke production. This allowed the resident more time to self-evacuate from the dwelling to a place of safety. \n                            \nImage credit Wolverhampton Homes living room seat of the fire\nSpecification of the sprinkler system  \n\nInstalled to comply with BS 9251:2014 Fire Sprinkler Systems for Domestic and Residential Occupancies – Code of Practice.\nCategory 3:\n\nConclusion  \nThis incident provides further supporting evidence of the benefits of sprinklers to under pin the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association’s (BAFSA) advocacy\, turning operational evidence into persuasive tools for policy and parliamentary engagement\, and reinforcing the case for the retrofitting of sprinklers systems in high-rise residential blocks of flats. \nWe welcomed the government’s November 2020 decision to lower the height threshold for mandatory sprinklers in purpose group 1a (residential blocks of flats) from 30 metres to 11 metres. Nevertheless\, concerns persist regarding the lack of requirements to retrofit existing residential buildings with sprinklers. \nIn alignment with the 2NFCC sprinkler position statement\, The BAFSA advocate for government action to mandate the retrofitting of sprinklers in high-rise residential buildings. Retrofitting should apply to all existing residential buildings over 18 metres in height\, or those with at least seven storeys served by a single staircase\, as well as all existing residential buildings exceeding 11 metres\, based on risk assessments. \nThe outcome of this fire could have been so different if building had not been fitted with a sprinkler system. \nSources/further reading \n\nSprinkler saves review 2024/2025\nSprinkler Saves winter review\nNFSN Newsletter\n1Efficiency and Effectiveness of sprinkler systems in the United Kingdom:An Analysis from Fire Service Data\n2NFCC AWSS Policy Statement\n\nIf you want to make a difference working in the fire sector\, we need your assistance. To make sprinklers the norm and not the exception – we need the evidence. Encouraging FRS and those in the sprinkler community to promote\, collate\, report sprinkler activations to Sprinkler Saves UK which will help to create a central and comprehensive record of fire incidents where sprinklers played their role in containing/controlling or extinguishing the fire. \nIf you hear of a save report it using this link. \n  \n             \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.sprinklersaves.co.uk/saves/retrofitted-sprinkler-system-extinguishes-fire-in-west-midlands-residential-tall-building/
LOCATION:West Midlands
CATEGORIES:Home
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