BLAZE DESTROYS CENTURY-OLD KENT LAUNDRY
Fire crews from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service tackled a massive fire at a commercial laundry in Ramsgate in July. The fire, which broke out in the early hours, destroyed the business and is one of a series of major laundry fires to break out in unsprinklered facilities in recent years.
The major blaze at the K Laundry on Northwood Road on July 23rd required 60 firefighters, 12 appliances, an aerial ladder and a bulk water carrier to bring under control. The 1,800m2 laundry facility was destroyed in the blaze, fire crews were able to prevent the fire spreading to nearby homes. While thankfully, there were no injuries, the fire service advised local residents to close windows and doors due to smoke and ash from the blaze. The loss of the building will cause significant disruption for this longstanding local business, established in 1928.
A few months earlier a laundry business in Worcester was also partly destroyed by a huge fire. Again, this was an early morning fire, with seven appliances and around 40 firefighters attending the Priory Dry Cleaners commercial laundry in Bromyard Road on March 22nd to control a blaze which severely damaged the premises. The business is facing periods of disruption, with work having to be carried out at other laundries.
Fires in commercial laundries occur on a regular basis due to a number of factors including electrical faults, ignition of lint build up and spontaneous combustion caused by laundry that is dried and stacked whilst still hot. These issues are not new and have been responsible for major fires over time.
To prevent similar scenarios from occurring within these industrial laundries there needs to be more proactivity and conscious business resilience decision-making. Unless trading can continue quickly, businesses feel the financial pressure of maintaining cash flow and often flounder. This has been the case with Paragon Laundry in Ross-on-Wye, which was destroyed in May 2022. More than two years after the devastating fire, there are reports that the business, which is part of Clean Linen Services, now has planning permission to rebuild with a replacement 2,000m2 facility planned on the same site. There are no indications of any sprinkler provisions.
Currently, automatic fire sprinklers are not widely used in the UK because the guidance rarely prescribes their use. Yet automatic fire sprinklers prevent large fires because they activate automatically over a fire, controlling or even extinguishing the blaze before the Fire and Rescue Service arrives. They therefore save lives and protect firefighters who attend incidents – but they also prevent significant damage or destruction of a building by fire.
For laundry businesses, the installation of sprinkler systems represent a long term investment. They safeguard against potentially disastrous losses and also aid life safety. By preventing large fires, sprinklers also protect the environment by avoiding CO2 emissions, reducing excess water use by the fire brigade and eliminating water supply contamination. Above all, they maintain business continuity. In the event of a fire, many businesses with sprinkler systems find they are back up-and-running in a matter of hours.
For more information about the BSA visit the www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org