"Sprinklers protect our fire fighters," says CFC station manager

Matty Stather, Fire Engineering Station Manager at Cleveland Fire Brigade has praised Cleveland Housing Association company Thirteen Group for retro-fitting automatic fire sprinklers in its properties following a recent kitchen fire in a residential property.

“Sprinkler systems are a highly effective, reliable and a cost-effective fire safety measure that can save lives, reduce injuries, protect our firefighters who attend incidents, provide peace of mind for our residents, and reduce property damage.” he said.

The heat generated from the fire, activated one sidewall sprinkler head within the kitchen, located 1.5m away from the seat of the fire. This allowed a fire signal to be transmitted to the remote alarm receiving centre allowing the appropriate emergency response. The operation of the sprinkler system restricted the growth of the fire, extinguishing the fire before the arrival of the fire service.

"We applaud Thirteen Group’s approach to ensuring the safety of its residents through the installation of sprinkler systems, without these this incident could have been catastrophic.” added Stather.