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Firefighters have expressed “anger and dismay” at comments by a fire chief, who is accused of playing down the importance of their role in favour of sprinklers after a recent supermarket blaze.div>
Around 85 people were evacuated when a fire broke out at the Asda store in Llanelli soon after 8.15pm on Wednesday 22 February.
Two sprinkler heads activated directly above the fire and were said to have helped people evacuate the store and made firefighting operations easier.
Speaking after the fire, Chris Margetts, senior operations officer for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said:
"This is a perfect example of the benefits to commercial premises of having state-of-the-art automatic sprinkler systems. This undoubtedly contained a potentially devastating fire from engulfing the store and the neighbouring shopping centre. Sprinkler systems also significantly reduce the risk to firefighters who are called to the incident.”
But the Fire Brigades Union said the comments sent out the wrong message and did not fully explain the role of fixed sprinkler systems.
"We are by no means undermining the usefulness of sprinklers, as they have an important role to play, just as smoke alarms in domestic properties," an FBU spokesman told the Llanelli Star.
“We feel that without [firefighters’] fast response and dynamic actions in the early stages of the fire, then it is likely it would have had devastating consequences for the commercial centre of Llanelli."
He continued: "The fire in Asda demonstrated the requirement for both the sprinkler system, which prevented vertical fire spread, and the rapid response of the local fire crews, which prevented further horizontal fire spread, saving further damage to the store and Elli Centre and making the building safe."
The FBU spokesman also told the Star that Mr Margetts’s comments came as a shock to crews, as they had been highly praised for their actions in private.
According to the Star, an 18-year-old man has been arrested and remains on police bail in connection with the incident which caused an estimated £200,000 worth of damage.
Row over role of sprinklers in supermarket blaze – VIDEOFirefighters have expressed “anger and dismay” at comments by a fire chief, who is accused of playing down the importance […]
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