RISCAuthority guidance – fire sprinkler data

Nick Coleshill looks at how fire sprinkler data can influence change

Since its formation in 1974, The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) has been instrumental in driving a cultural change on the perception of the benefits of automatic fire suppression systems (AFSS)  working with our partners and stakeholders on numerous work streams including the most recent UK research commissioned by the National Fire Chiefs Council, (NFCC) and National Fire Sprinkler Network (NFSN).

On our behalf Optimal Economics undertook a detailed and comprehensive analysis of fire incident data in the United Kingdom and published a report¹ on the activation and performance of sprinkler systems on 2,294 fires in buildings protected with AFSS. The aim of the analysis was to provide an authoritative assessment of the reliability and effectiveness of sprinkler systems in controlling and extinguishing fires. The report identified that sprinklers were:

• 99% efficient in extinguishing or controlling a fire
• 94% efficient in their ability to operate.

The findings of this report showed that fire incident data can be a valuable tool in providing powerful evidence of the ability of fire sprinklers to protect our communities and businesses from fire, challenging misconceptions about their safety and efficiency.

Each financial year the Home Office releases Fire Rescue Service (FRS) incident fire statistics for England,  sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS). This includes statistics on all incidents, fire-related fatalities, injuries from fires, and response times to fires, with long-term comparisons. Disappointingly, data on whether AFSS were present or activated is not automatically released as part of the FRS statistics publications, presently this information can only be sourced by submitting a Freedom of Information request to the Home Office.

The IRS is a web-enabled incident recording system. When a household or business has made an emergency call, key information around the incident is captured, inputted daily into the IRS by the officer in charge of the incident using software forms structured into logical groups. For the most severe fire incidents, the senior fire investigation officer compiles a report that details the findings of the investigation and the most likely origin and cause. Once completed, this officer reviews and where necessary, updates the IRS record to reflect the findings of the investigation.

Each group contains questions in data fields with associated lists containing the appropriate answer options. Data collected about serious reportable fires include:

• time and date of call
• fire service or other geographical area
• type of building or vehicle
• most likely motive (accidental or malicious)
• cause of fire (chip pan fires, electrical, etc.)
• source of ignition (cigarettes, cookers, etc.)
• materials (furniture, etc.)
• the spread of fire (beyond room of origin, etc.)
• the nature of fire casualties
• rescue information and method of extinction
• the effectiveness of automatic smoke detectors
• were there any active safety systems present?

The importance of monitoring AFSS incident data has been acknowledged by the inclusion of the active safety system field focusing on the following performance characteristics of AFSS fire data:

• type of active safety system present
• location of active safety systems in relation to fire
• did the system operate
• how many operated
• impact upon fire
• reason system did not function as intended.

BAFSA realises that fire incident data provides powerful evidence of the benefits of fire sprinklers and has published a series of reports² analysing IRS data on fires in sprinklered buildings from 2018-2022. The aim of these analyses is to identify trends and gain insight on the use of sprinklers within the UK to help effect a change so that sprinklers are the norm, not the exception.

One report focused on sprinkler performance in blocks of flats, categorised by height as follows:

i. purpose-built flats, low rise (1-3 storeys)
ii. purpose-built flats, medium-high rise (4-9 storeys)
iii. purpose-built flats, high rise (10 or more storeys)

Focusing on the IRS sub fields, did the sprinklers:

i. extinguish the fire?
ii. contain/control the fire?
iii. not contain/control the fire?
iv. not known?

Table 1 below shows that of the 141 fire incidents recorded, 132 fires were either extinguished or contained/controlled by the sprinkler system with an overall success rate of 94%. This is powerful evidence of the benefit of sprinklers which will encourage and promote their use.

The challenge of requesting the IRS incident data is that it is typically approaching a year old when received and it is ‘flat’ data that describes details of anonymised incidents. Great for analysis but often devoid of the true story of the impact of sprinklers. To receive information more promptly, BAFSA has established a working relationship with representatives of individual FRS allowing for details of sprinkler activations, which would be recorded within the IRS incident data, to be forwarded to the BAFSA Sprinkler Saves coordinator. The outcome is Sprinkler Saves UK sprinklersaves.co.uk, raising awareness of the benefits to fire safety from sprinklers with details of hundreds of sprinkler saves. A sprinkler save is classified as an incident where one or more sprinkler heads activate to control or extinguish a building fire. The story around the incident provides powerful evidence of the ability of sprinklers to protect life and property from fire. It is a key tool in the discussion on the benefits of such systems with the public, owners and regulators.

The first Sprinkler Saves UK Annual Review 2021/2022 identified 53 incidents reported to BAFSA in this way during the financial year ending March 2022. Each incident was then publicised with images, details of the event and the impact of sprinklers. The reported incidents span a wide range of building types and occupancies, confirming the conclusions of the Optimal Economics report.

Note that this promotion of sprinkler activations depends on the goodwill and resources of individual FRS, the majority of which do not have a nominated fire officer responsible for the promotion of AFSS to forward this information to Sprinkler Saves UK. Likewise, the quality of the IRS data captured is dependent on the fire officer who inputs the data and their training, experience of AFSS, and commitment to complete reporting. Not all fire officers might be able to identify the difference between a sprinkler or water mist system or take the time to count the number of sprinkler head activations before leaving the scene.

For example, a balcony fire at West Hampstead, London on 3 July 2018 involved the actuation of multiple sprinkler heads but the completed IRS data recorded the number of heads having operated as zero. London Fire Brigade conducted a case study of this incident to raise awareness in the residential sector of the benefits of AFSS in a multi-fire residential tall building and identified that in 19 minutes from time of call, five apartments were exposed to fire and 12 sprinkler heads activated.

The use of IRS data plays an important role in promoting the benefits of AFSS as part of a combination of fire safety measures to reduce the impact of fire on our communities, property, and the environment, while assisting fire firefighters in carrying out search and rescue operations by limiting fire development.

Footnotes

¹ Efficiency and Effectiveness of Sprinkler Systems in the United Kingdom: An Analysis from Fire Service Data – Optimal Economics 2017
² BAFSA, Incident Data Report…Focus on Sprinklers

Sources

• BAFSA, Incident Data Report…Focus on Sprinklers No.2 focusing on the location of the fire where sprinklers were reported as being present, activating in purpose-built block of flats
• Communities and Local Government, Incident Recording System-Questions and Lists
• Sprinkler Saves UK Annual Review 2021/22
• London Fire Brigade, West Hampstead Square, Automatic Fire Suppression System Activation Case Study

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Nick Coleshill is the Sprinkler Ambassador for BAFSA