One sprinkler head stops Doncaster housing block fire

The benefits of retrofitting a life safety residential sprinkler system were clearly identified following a bedroom fire within a general needs residential block of flats housing a diverse range of tenants in Doncaster at the end of November.

The fire was extinguished before the arrival of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue by the activation of one residential sprinkler head within the flat with no further firefighting media required and no injuries reported.

This 14 storey tower development contains 83 flats and St Ledger Homes of Doncaster working with Doncaster Council took the decision to retrofit residential sprinkler systems into its nine tall building residential blocks as part of a package of fire safety measures to improve fire safety across its housing stock at a cost of £6m, with the sprinkler installation accounting for over half of the total spend.

As part of this project SYFR match funded this initiative by contributing £200,000 for the retrofitting of sprinklers within one of the blocks from their safer stronger communities’ reserve fund.

Roger Brason, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) sprinkler advocate and BAFSA council member says: “We’ve championed the use of sprinklers, particularly in high-rise buildings, for quite some time, so we’re delighted that all of the blocks in Doncaster now have them.These devices not only help protect life, but help protect property too. In most cases, they will extinguish a fire completely and prevent it from spreading any further. The fact that people living in high-rise buildings across Doncaster now have such a high level of fire protection really is excellent news."

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