Designers urged to consider sprinklers
SPRINKLERS save lives, according to Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service head of fire safety Trevor Queripel.
[caption id="attachment_38674" align="alignright" width="175" caption="The Dorset Fire and Rescue Service brought its sprinkler demonstration vehicle to Guernsey yesterday. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0859612)"]
He was speaking at a demonstration yesterday in conjunction with ARC Fire Safety Ltd and Dorset Fire and Rescue. More than 50 Housing officers, architects and builders attended the event at the fire station.
Mr Queripel said both Guernsey and Jersey's fire services wanted to promote the use of sprinklers.
'The past two or three deaths caused by house fires would not have happened if there was a sprinkler system,' he said.
Sprinklers help confine a fire to one room. People have a 97% chance of surviving a fire where there is a sprinkler system and so far no one in the UK has died as a result of a blaze in a building with a working system.
The demonstrations were carried out in a van modified by the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.
Watch manager Steve Underhill said the service was keen to promote fire safety wherever possible - last year, there were 13 deaths caused by house fires in Dorset.
'Having a sprinkler in your house is like having a firefighter with you 24 hours a day,' he said.
