‘How many more schools will be lost before we get sprinklers?’
DERBYSHIRE schools need sprinklers now – and they need to be made a priority before more schools are destroyed, says Derbyshire’s fire chief.
Gavin Tomlinson, chief fire officer of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, voiced his frustration that many schools in the county do not have sprinklers and called on leaders to make the investment and the commitment to properly protect schools.
And Mr Tomlinson rejected the assertion made by Derbyshire County Council that arsonists target schools without sprinkler systems installed.
This comes after three Derbyshire schools were destroyed by fires in the space of four months.
Harrington Junior School in
Long Eaton was accidentally destroyed by fire in May during refurbishments being carried out by the county council.
Two further schools, Ravensdale Infant and Nursery School and St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, both in Derby, were destroyed by arson within 48 hours in October.
Mr Tomlinson said: “There is frustration that we are still having this conversation.
“Hopefully this is the turning point we need, after the recent fires in Derbyshire. The evidence is there, really. The cost benefits are there too.
“Even if you estimated at £50,000 to put them in at a design stage with a new school, a rebuild school
is in the seven figures easily, so the investment is insignificant in the scheme of things, to make sure that school is there for 40-plus years.
“This has just disrupted probably around 900 kids for the foreseeable future now, it is something that easily could have been prevented if people made the changes that need making.
“I just don’t think it is high priority and it needs to be. I know there are other agencies and services which have things they want to see as high priority but we have seen the evidence this year, three times, that a small investment can save a large capital build.
“The three schools between them will run over £10 million pounds at a conservative guess. At what point do we lose some more schools) before the Government make sprinklers a legal requirement?
“Then there is the disruption and they’ve got to have the building work done and it takes years to get back to where they were – all for the sake of a little investment.
“I had two firefighters injured at the fire in Long Eaton and sprinklers afford the protection for firefighters as well.”
Mr Tomlinson said fires at the two Derby schools were too far developed before firefighter crews arrived. “We were never going to be able to save any of them but sprinklers would’ve probably extinguished the fires or certainly held them back.
“They wouldn’t have needed two new schools. We know the firers were deliberately set, but they would have been contained.”
He said that “in an ideal world” he would also like to see all schools retrofitted with sprinklers but understands the cost restrictions and the disruption to the schools.
“If you are not investing in a refurbishment or a rebuild it is probably an expense that most local authorities can’t afford,” he said. “Now is the time to start investing. We certainly don’t want to be having this same conversation in 10 years’ time when one or two of them have suffered the effects of a fire.
“My frustration is when schools are rebuilt again after a fire and then still do not put sprinklers in, they are not learning the lessons.
“I am trying to get Barry Lewis (county council leader) and Chris Poulter (city council leader) to commit to putting sprinklers in new schools and in refurbished buildings, too.”