The consequences of such actions are considerable - in this case the fire was set while pupils were in the school. In addition to the life safety implications, the consequential losses can be catastrophic. Not only are there the financial considerations due to building loss, there is the loss of course work and teachers aids and records, as well as the psychological impact on pupils, particularly young children, and staff. St Stephens is in no way an isolated case - over 60 percent of school fires are started deliberately and each year in England and Wales more than 1300 schools suffer fires large enough to be attended by the fire and rescue service with costs estimated at over £60million.
Uncomfortable reading
The odds of a school experiencing a fire also make uncomfortable reading - an estimated 1 in 20 - but that is certainly not the whole picture. The Fire Industry Association (FIA) was formed in April 2007, merging the UK's two leading associations within the fire protection industry: the British Fire Protection Systems Association (BFPSA) representing the UK fire systems industry and the Fire Extinguishing Trades Association (FETA), representing those companies responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of portable fire-fighting equipment. Prior to the formation of the FIA, FETA conducted a number of surveys into the use of portable extinguishers, demonstrating just how important extinguishers are in the fight against fire, so aptly reinforced by the St Stephen's High School incident. A similar exercise is currently being undertaken by the FIA with the results yet to be finalised but the figures from the earlier survey showed that some 80 percent of fires are dealt with by a portable fire extinguisher without the need for fire service intervention - these fires go largely unreported. While the FETA study related to the use of extinguishers in general, research by the Arson Prevention Bureau demonstrates a similar situation in the education sector, with more than half of all school fires being put out by staff or self extinguishing and therefore not being recorded within the official figures.
Disruption and consequential loss becomes significant when a fire spreads beyond the room of origin. Returning to statistics, some 40-50 of fires in schools are termed serious fires, involving insured building losses in excess of £50,000, with some 20 of these involving losses of more than £250,000.
Third party certification
So, having considered the consequences of a fire, how do you assure that the fire protection systems selected and installed in a school are of the highest standard? In the UK there are Third Party Certification schemes for suppliers, installers and maintainers of fire protection systems.
The Government acknowledges these and says in Approved Document B (the Fire Safety guidance document) of the Building Regulations of such schemes:
‘Building Control Bodies may accept the certification of products, components, materials or structures under such schemes as evidence of compliance with the relevant standard.
Similarly, Building Control Bodies may accept the certification of the installation or maintenance of products, components, materials or structures under such schemes as evidence of compliance with the relevant standard.'
Similarly within the Government guidance documents for existing buildings published in support of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order they stipulate:
‘Third-party certification schemes for fire protection products and related services are an effective means of providing the fullest possible assurances, offering a level of quality, reliability and safety that non-certificated products may lack. This does not mean goods and services that are not third-party approved are less reliable, but there is no obvious way in which this can be demonstrated.
Third-party quality assurance can offer great comfort to employers, both as a means of satisfying you that goods and services you have purchased are fit for purpose, and as a means of demonstrating that you have complied with the law.'
Under these schemes the competence of the companies and its operatives to supply, install, and maintain a particular type of fire protection system is assessed.
We cannot afford to be complacent about fire safety in general. And, when it comes to schools, the statistics speak for themselves. Third party schemes offer the assurances that our schools not only get the fire protection systems that they deserve but also that said systems are duly maintained to ensure that they do operate and perform that all important role if a fire does occur.
