Sprinklers Stop Fires in Sweden and UK

Gösta Holmstedt reports from Sweden that a sprinkler system extinguished a fire in a factory in Lesjöfors. The fire started in one of the industrial ventilation units of Lesjöfors Springs and Pressrings, a global market leader in the manufacture of springs. The alarm was raised in the afternoon on Sunday, 13th February. The fire brigade was very quick to arrive but found that the fire had already been extinguished by the single sprinkler system. Damage was minor and production started within a couple of hours.

Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service reports that a sprinkler system has extinguished a fire in a deep fat fryer. The fire started at 02:00 in the emergency accommodation wing of the Inverclyde Centre for the Homeless in Greenock, near Glasgow. There were 30 people in the shelter at the time. Malcolm Nicholson, group commander at Greenock fire station, said, "This could have been very dangerous. It could easily have spread and escalated. The fire was extinguished before we arrived, thanks to the sprinklers." Inverclyde councillor Joe McIlwee, Convenor of the Health & Social Care Committee, said, "This was money well spent. The sprinkler system uses a lot less water than fire-fighters would have had to use to deal with the fire, meaning the service can get up and running again quickly."

It is often claimed that a sprinkler system cannot extinguish a fire in a domestic deep fat fryer. Here is another example where it has done exactly that.

(Bron; EFSN 9 maart 2011)