Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is joining with fire and rescue services across the UK in supporting the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Fire Sprinkler Awareness Week 2018, taking place from 12 March.
As businesses look to remain competitive in a challenging economic climate, it has become more important than ever for them to ensure that their key resources are protected, allowing them to continue to operate after a fire. It has been suggested that many businesses do not recover after a major fire, and this can have an impact not only on the company itself, but on its employees, customers and suppliers.
The cost of installing sprinklers can be as little as £1.39–£1.85 per square foot. In contrast, damage from fire can cost tens of thousands, sometimes running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Each sprinkler head is set to operate individually, and it will only be triggered to spray water onto a fire when it reaches its predetermined operating temperature.
If a fire does start in your business, only the sprinklers in the immediate area of the fire will open – all the others remain closed.
If you’re worried about water damage, it’s worth knowing that in a fire, firefighters often use 15 times more water from hoses to do the same job as a sprinkler does alone.
AWSS facts
- AWSS are used more than any other fixed fire protection system
- Over 40 million are fitted worldwide each year
- AWSS systems have been proven in use for well over 100 years
- Possibly the oldest in Britain was fitted in 1812 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London
- The system (in its updated form) is still in use today
- Losses from fires in buildings protected with AWSS are estimated to be 1/10 of those in unprotected buildings
- 99% of fires were controlled by AWSS sprinklers alone
- 60% of fires were controlled by the spray from no more than 4 AWSS sprinkler heads
For further information see our Sprinklers page