SPRINKLERS were not fitted at any London school or college which had fires this year, new figures have revealed.
Statistics showed that none of the 57 educational establishments in the capital attended by firefighters were fitted with the systems.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) data covers blazes attended by crews at nurseries, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities.
None of them which had fires up until July 25 were fitted with automatic fire suppression systems (AFSS), the brigade said. It said only 2.3% of the 565 school fires attended between 2014 and July this year was in buildings fitted with sprinklers.
The safety systems were installed at only 13 of them. LFB said it wants sprinklers to be mandatory in all new schools and for institutions to be retrofitted with them during refurbishments.
Its deputy assistant commissioner for fire safety Charlie Pugsley said: “It is shocking that we have been campaigning for a number of years to make sprinklers mandatory in new schools and retrofitted during major refurbishments and yet this year, every school fire we have been called to has had no sprinklers fitted.
“Sprinklers are the only fire safety system that detects a fire, suppresses a fire and can raise the alarm. Sprinklers save lives and protect property.
“Millions of pounds are wasted every year repairing fire damage in London’s schools when sprinklers could have prevented the spread of fire.
“This is not just about saving money; when a school is closed it disrupts a child’s education, impacts on the local community and affects parents by closing breakfast and after school clubs.”
