Life-saving sprinklers a first for Rhyl's Ysgol Tir Morfa

Jun 4 2008 by David Rutland, Rhyl Visitor

CHILDREN and staff at Rhyl's Ysgol Tir Morfa - the first school in Denbighshire to be fitted with a sprinkler system - have been congratulated by firefighters.

Fire crews visited the school this week to applaud them on becoming the first school in the county to have life-saving water sprinklers in their school.

The sprinklers were installed during the second phase of the school, which opened in February, 2008, and funded by Welsh Assembly Government.

Alyn Edwards, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s County Safety Manager, said: “North Wales Fire and Rescue Service have been campaigning for some time to have sprinklers fitted in all schools.

“The move by Denbighshire County Council and Ysgol Tir Morfa to install sprinklers in the second phase of their new school demonstrates their commitment to ensuring the safety of their pupils.

“Automated fire sprinklers offer excellent protection to properties involved in a fire.

“Although smoke alarms do save lives on numerous occasions, the alarm raised depends upon the ability of the individual to escape the property Šand raise the alarm. In schools this can be a particular problem because children may become disorientated and scared and attempt to hide in the building or wander off.

“The effects of a fire in a school can be quite devastating to the school and the community”.

“Sprinklers attack a fire in its very early stages and can prevent it from spreading and causing injury, loss of life and serious structural damage to the building.”

Although the school is the first to be fitted with sprinklers, it is unlikely to be the last.

The Assembly Government is now requiring sprinklers be installed in all new school buildings and, wherever practicable, in existing school buildings undergoing renovation in Wales

And Ann Jones, AM for the Vale of Clwyd is currently working on a change of legislation that will require all new homes in Wales from 2010 to be built with domestic sprinklers as standard protection.

david.rutland