Sprinklers Contain Fire in Massive Scottish Warehouse

A major fire inside a 93,000 m² fulfilment warehouse in Scotland was successfully contained after an automatic water suppression system.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) crews arrived shortly after 13:00 to find a fire on the first floor of a four-storey mezzanine that had spread across several levels. Four sprinkler heads activated, preventing horizontal fire spread and reducing heat and smoke, allowing firefighters wearing breathing apparatus to extinguish the blaze using two jets. The fire was fully out by 15:27, with no injuries reported.

Damage was limited to around 10m² on each affected floor, avoiding what SFRS said could have been a total loss of the building, which can hold up to 1,200 staff.

Fire chiefs say the incident provides further evidence of the effectiveness of sprinkler systems, reinforcing national research urging tighter size limits for large warehouses due to the high risks they pose to firefighters.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. For a full report on this Sprinkler Save and a comparison of a similar fire in an un-sprinklered warehouse see Nick Coleshill's full report on Sprinkler Saves 

Picture for illustrative purposes only