Pour on water, pour on water

Schools still suffer the highest rate of large losses of any occupancy. Financial costs are only part of the equation, as it has been estimated that 90,000 children a year have their education disrupted by serious fires.

Inner-city schools are frequently cited as the main victims, but these often have good levels of security. Rural schools can be more vulnerable, with unprotected playing fields and lower security. They are also more vulnerable to the disruption of a large fire, because alternative accommodation is often not available locally. Such consequences cannot be overlooked, and indeed BB100 and the risk assessment tool reflect this.

-90,000 children per annum have their education disrupted by serious school fires

Larry Stokes

Sprinklers are part of the whole security package but they do give considerable design freedoms. It is also the only protection system that actually puts out the fire in its early stages rather than alerting a third party to assist. The fire service is fully on board with the drive to install sprinklers in new-build schools.

Currently fewer than 500 out of 30,000 schools in the UK are protected by sprinkler systems so it would be some considerable time before a deeper penetration will have an impact on overall fire wastage in schools.