Having been a new construction product this school was fitted with traditional type fire extinguishers throughout the building. It contained a combination of Water, CO2, Foam and Powder Fire Extinguishers. Universal Fire And Security Ltd were engaged by the MAT (Multi Academy Trust) that governs the school to renew the portable fire extinguisher solution throughout the premises as they were all due for renewal.
You may think that this is an easy process and to just provide replacements for what was currently on site. We tool a different approach and discussions started with the Business Manager, the Site Manager and key members of Staff.
From those discussions it emerged that they had a policy, as with most educational establishments, that in the event of a fire they were to evacuate the building with the children and not use the fire extinguishers. In their circumstances the fire extinguishers were there to use if they needed to ‘fight their way out’ in the event that fire had blocked their exit.
We discussed the current arrangement and it became clear that most members of staff on site would not be able to easily distinguish the class of fire in front of them and which type of fire extinguisher to choose to tackle the blaze. As there were quite a few 9L and 6L water and foam units on site we asked a few members of staff to pick them up and pretend to use them. Most struggled.
Our proposal which was accepted and implemented was to use Firexo throughout the premises. Firexo is the revolutionary new extinguisher that tackles all fires. The 2L version of this unit has the same 13A rating as a 9L water. As there were many fire points around the building consisting of a Water and a CO2 extinguisher these were able to be replaced with a single unit. Due to the nature of the risk the vast majority of units now on site are 2L.
Having returned to site to discuss the provision with the site team they feel more confident about their fire extinguisher provision. They like that the extinguishers are more portable and that they bring simplicity that they are able to be used on any class of fire.
The number of units on site was reduced due to the use of the new technology. The cost for replacement was less than traditional units, the ongoing maintenance was reduced and the future renewal costs reduced. Add to that the environmentally friendly aspects of the product and the school are happy with the provision.