Fires in Schools – New Report

The National Fire Sprinkler Network (NFSN) have published a report on the impact of school fires, reviewing statistics across the period 2010 to 2024.

The report points out that every week in England, classrooms are lost to fire. When this happens, education stops - children are displaced, families are disrupted – and communities lose vital infrastructure. The consequences are educational, emotional and financial and they can last for years.

Headline Statistics

• There are an average of 350 school fires per annum (this equates to roughly one per day, or 7 a week);

• This equates to a probability of a fire occurring in any school of between 1.4% and 4%;

• Over a 30-year period this equates to the chance of a fire occurring in a secondary school rises to approximately 70%;

• The average extent of damage is at least one classroom being put out of action, with fires which occur in the evening (when no one is on site to react immediately) causing at least two classrooms to be put out of action;

• One fire per week will affect multiple classrooms;

• The average cost per school if a fire is £282,200;

• The average total cost of fire damage to schools per annum: £126 million; and

• The Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) data shows average fire claims ranging between £240,000 and £610,000 in recent years.

There is also the management time taken up and stress, for both staff and pupils, but also parents/carers and the wider community, which would be created by managing such a significant scenario, were it to occur in your school, to consider.

Continuity of Education

NFSN point out that continuity of education in such circumstances is crucial and the aim should be to return children to education within 24 hours of any disruption. Handsam Ltd urge clients to pre-plan as part of their critical incident plans how a loss of one or more classrooms would be coped with, bearing in mind that the DfE state that a single day lost from the education of a typical student equates to circa £750 in lost earnings to that person over their career. Please contact us to discuss how we can support you with preparation of critical incident plans, for example with Handsam’s template, via info@handsam.co.uk.

The Importance of Sprinklers

NFSN also note that over 97% of fires in schools in the period occurred in buildings without sprinklers, but in the 3% of fires which occurred in buildings with sprinklers, 98% were either fully extinguished or were controlled and contained by the sprinkler systems. This leads to the Secretary of the National Fire Sprinkler Network, Terry McDermott, observing that ‘Given that loss of a school to fire creates more disruption and absence than one to three days, the case for sprinklers in schools would seem self-evident’.

Currently, there is no requirement to install sprinklers when refurbishing school buildings, but it is something Handsam Ltd recommend clients consider as part of any major refurbishment on a risk basis.