Sprinkler News
Sprinkler Stop - Star City, West Midlands
Thanks to BAFSA Council Member Steve Mills of WMF&RS for this very interesting sprinkler stop which demonstrates graphically how inadequate fire separation could have allowed a serious fire to develop if the occupancy had not been sprinkler protected.
‘At just after 10pm on Monday 18th January 2010, West Midlands Fire Service attended a fire in a restaurant located in the Star City entertainment complex in Birmingham.
The fire broke out in the cavity of a partition wall situated at the rear of a cooking griddle. It was believed that over time, an accumulation of cooking oils had entered the cavity and eventually ignited. The partition wall did not extend to full ceiling height and so the fire discharged into the void above the false ceiling. Two sprinkler heads, one on each side of the partition wall, activated during the fire and contained the damaged area to the inside of the wall cavity.
A total 6 pumping appliances attended and 400 persons were safely evacuated from the Star City complex.
Following refurbishment, the restaurant was re-opened on Saturday 22nd January while the remainder of the complex continued to operate as normal the following day.’
BAFSA understands that the base build sprinkler protection was installed by Argus Fire Protection while the tenancies were protected by Armstrong Priestley.
Posted on: Tuesday 26 January 2010
Updated on: Wednesday 27 January 2010