Sprinklers help stop fire spread at food distribution warehouse

By Iain Cox, Chair of Business Sprinkler Alliance

When an external fire broke out in the early hours at a food distribution warehouse in Milton Keynes an automatic sprinkler system activated and helped to stop it spreading into the building, minimising damage and ensuring the business would be able to return to operations the following day with little disruption.

Following multiple calls from members of the public who had reported plumes of smoke and explosions, more than eight fire crews and 30 firefighters from the Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue were called to the Brinklow Distribution Centre in the early hours of 16 July 16. A fire located in an external trailer unit spread to four other tractor units and one wall of the warehouse facility. The building’s sprinkler system, located inside the building, activated as the heat from the fire entered the building. Together with the swift action of the fire and rescue service, the fire was contained and prevented from spreading further.

A sprinkler system is typically designed for a fire within a structure or building. However, history has shown that it can also have a benefit when external fires try to enter a building by operating, wetting the local area, and limiting fire spread. Had the fire not been contained it would have had greater impact to this logistics business, which supplies food products to Waitrose supermarkets. The facility was up and running the following day, with minimal loss of stock and impact to deliveries.

The massive 30,000m² high bay warehouse is large enough to accommodate five football pitches and officially opened in 1993 as one of the principal distribution hubs for Waitrose.  The fire at the Brinklow Distribution Centre draws comparisons to one that broke out at a Sainsbury’s distribution centre in South London in 2015. Likewise, it began in a trailer unit parked outside before spreading to other vehicles and the outside wall of the depot. The London Fire Brigade said at the time that Sainsbury’s sprinklers helped prevent devastating damage to the depot and allowed the business to get back to normal as soon as possible.

‘There is absolutely no doubt that in this case the sprinkler system, along with the quick actions of our crews, prevented a much more serious fire from spreading any further into the depot and causing potentially millions of pounds worth of damage to both the building and stock inside,’ said LFB deputy assistant commissioner Mark Andrews.

Home Office figures¹ show that the Fire and Rescue service in England has attended 26,800 fires in industrial and commercial buildings in the past three years. From offices to industrial buildings, healthcare facilities to hotels, the impact of a major fire can be devastating, and many businesses never recover. But the cost of fires in industrial and commercial buildings goes far beyond the expense and impacts on individual businesses and insured costs. Fires are the cause of significant economic, environmental and community costs, many of which are ultimately borne by the taxpayer.

These two incidents highlight the benefit of sprinklers can have to businesses. Currently automatic fire sprinklers are not widely used in the UK because the guidance rarely prescribes their use. Yet automatic fire sprinklers prevent large fires because they activate automatically over a fire, controlling or even extinguishing the blaze before the Fire and Rescue Service arrives. They therefore save lives and protect firefighters who attend incidents – but they also prevent significant damage or destruction of a building by fire.

Above all, they maintain business continuity, which is exactly the case with these two supermarket chains. In the event of a fire, many businesses with sprinkler systems find they are back up-and-running in a matter of hours.

For more information about the BSA visit the www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org