Re-thinking success after devastating fires

After the catastrophic Gardman fire in 2018, we at the Business Sprinkler Alliance had hoped that the incident of a fire in a very large building structure without sprinklers was just an isolated incident. Tragically, a pair of equally large and catastrophic fires in early May 2024, in two different countries, have proven that hope to be misguided.

The first of the two devastating fires was in the West Midlands on May 9^th in a distribution warehouse operated by Super Smart Services (SSS), a facility that is reported to handle over 70,000 parcels each day. This huge blaze in Cannock captured national news and attention but despite the efforts of 10 fire crews, the building was completely destroyed. The following weekend in Warsaw, Poland, a fire destroyed a huge shopping mall which is home to 1,400 individual businesses, many of which were family-run stores.

In the span of just one week, a 33,000m² warehouse in the UK and a massive 66,000m² shopping mall in Poland were consumed by devastating blazes. Let that sink in - these buildings combined covered an area of close to 100,000m² and as we head into the Euros that area is the equivalent to 14 football pitches.

These fires will be two of the largest that we see in Europe in 2024. It is made even more stark by considering that the destruction appears to be despite both facilities reportedly meeting current regulations in their respective countries. Apparently, both buildings had high fire loads within them and used compartment walls to subdivide their areas which failed to work, and the fire services were unable to halt the spread of the fires. The cause of the fire in Poland is reported to be deliberate. This sequence of events forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: both of these fires constitute ‘success’ within the regulatory thinking. No occupants were injured, no firefighters were injured and the fires did not spread beyond the original building. It is hard to imagine ‘success’ looking like the total destruction of nearly 100,000m² of building.

The loss of these two buildings raises numerous concerns. What will become of the burned-out structures and will the affected businesses be able to recover and resume trading elsewhere? How can we consider the utter devastation of such large-scale assets a favourable outcome, even if there were no casualties? Both fires attract unfavourable public scrutiny when one looks at the scale of the damage and the interruption. And perhaps most crucially, even if one of the fires was deliberate, are measures being put in place by the regulatory systems effective?

Both facilities appear to have employed a strategy of subdividing the buildings into separate compartments, likely to facilitate occupant evacuation and firefighter response. However, the sheer magnitude of these rapidly-spreading fires rendered such compartmentation ineffective, leading to scenes of widespread destruction. The fallout from these events will undoubtedly ripple through communities, impacting jobs, economic stability and local infrastructure.

The basic hazards of both the warehouse and shopping centre in these events remain the same: large stocks of combustible goods and stock held in storage arrays for burning. Unless caught early, such high storage arrays generate fires that are beyond the intervention of the fire and rescue service. They lead to extensive damage and often burn until the entire fire load is consumed. Trying to stop the progress of the fire without the early intervention of water requires sacrificing parts or all of the building, unless a substantial fire partition or separation is engineered.

In both of these fire events it could have been so different. Businesses that have implemented sprinkler systems often experience only minor disruptions and can quickly resume operations within hours. Conversely, those without such systems may encounter on average five-to-six times more damage and endure longer periods of interruption.

The stark contrast between buildings equipped with sprinkler systems and those without becomes evident in the event of a fire. Recent statistics reveal the average cost of a large warehouse fire amounts to £5.9m¹ with at least one warehouse fire occurring every working day in England alone. These figures underscore the critical importance for businesses to carefully consider the impact of fire and its devastating consequences.

We can continue to measure success solely by the absence of casualties. However, with the ever larger buildings we are creating true success demands a holistic view of fire resilience – one that prioritises the protection of our built environment, economic stability, and community well-being alongside life safety.

Fire incidents remain the primary cause of damage in warehouses and large commercial buildings, and although the number of industrial fires may have decreased, we are still recording a warehouse fire every working day with the severity and cost of such incidents that do occur on the rise. Implementing systems such as sprinklers can effectively contain and extinguish fires, thereby safeguarding firefighters and preserving businesses, jobs, and the economy. This is why the Business Sprinkler Alliance campaigns for the inclusion of such sprinkler systems into warehousing units. Only by raising our standards and pursuing a multi-faceted approach to fire prevention and mitigation can we redefine what constitutes true ‘success’ in this arena.