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20 April 2007
An eight-year campaign for the installation of fire sprinklers in all new and refurbished school buildings has finally been won.
West Yorkshire’s chief fire officer, Phil Toase, has latterly given the crusade renewed impetus through his presidency of the influential Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA).
Property losses from UK school fires, many of which are started deliberately, run to more than £70m. a year. Fortunately, no child has been killed but there have been several incidents where death or injury were only narrowly avoided.
In 2006, Mr. Toase warned Schools Minister Jim Knight that it was only a question of time before tragedy struck. His call for immediate action was backed in an unprecedented move by every fire chief in the country.
Mr. Knight has now said that new schools, or those undergoing major refurbishment using public funds, will have to complete a risk analysis to decide whether they should be fitted with sprinklers. In effect, the Government’s expectation is that in the majority of cases this will lead to the installation of sprinklers.
“Over the past eight years there has been mounting pressure from CFOA, the Local Government Association, the Fire Brigades Union, the National Union of Teachers and hundreds of individual Members of Parliament on this issue,” explained Mr. Toase.
“I honestly believe that with the Government embarking on an ambitious programme to replace or refurbish all secondary schools over the next 15 years, it was an opportunity which could not be missed to improve pupil safety.”
Councillor Gordon Beever, who has also championed sprinklers at the highest political level, said West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority had been proud to be in the vanguard of the sprinkler campaign and had reached agreement with all five local education authorities to fit sprinklers in new schools.
The Authority Chair said it had also worked closely with housing groups to promote and target the fitting of sprinklers in residential and domestic premises where the occupants were identified to be at highest risk. Success in this area has included the fitting of sprinklers in residential care homes, sheltered housing complexes, houses in multiple occupation, fire stations and private homes.
For further information:
Stephen Hardy, PR Unit, (01274)
655807 or 655717