Sprinklers extinguish blaze at £35m seconday school

Sprinklers extinguish blaze at £35m seconday school. From Info4fire.
13 February 2012



A fire which broke out at a newly built secondary school was successfully extinguished and confined to the room of origin by the building’s sprinkler system.

The fire was caused by a faulty electric heat lamp in the animal care classroom of the £35m Walbottle Campus school in Newcastle, and broke out shortly after 11 am on Saturday 28 January. The school’s sports facilities were being used by around 200 people at the time.

The fire was detected by the fire alarm system and one sprinkler head in the room involved activated.

A number of small animals were in the room involved and all survived.

Firefighting action involved two appliances and eight firefighters, two of whom used breathing apparatus to enter the building and use positive pressure ventilation for smoke clearance.

The damage was limited to a wooden bench and minor smoke damage to the room involved - less than 1% of the whole building.