While the finance for the proposed national “Building Schools for the Future” project has suffered a blow, Maintaining Schools for the Future, a Bedfordshire and Luton partnership activity, is continuing to make sure fires and subsequent costs of damage and disruption are reduced in educational properties.
Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service (BLFRS) has been working for several years with Bedfordshire Police and local councils to cut the risk of crime and arson in schools. The result has been a 75% reduction in school fires compared to 2003.
The SCARE project (School Crime and Arson Risk Evaluation) was the first of its kind in the country when launched last year.
Now SCARE has been made official with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between fire, police and three local authorities (July 7th 2010). The success of SCARE was shared with professional colleagues to see at the Fire and Rescue Show in Harrogate in June.
Nationally there are over 1,300 school fires every year, approximately 70% of which are attributed to arson. These attacks result in a huge cost in terms of the damage and the disruption they cause to schools and the wider community they serve.
BLFRS Northern Area Safety Manager Tim Birchall said:
"We believe we are the first Fire and Rescue Service to undertake such an ambitious project. The reviews we are undertaking have already driven down the risk of an arson and crime at our schools - by 75% since 2003, when Bedfordshire and Luton was the third worst area for school fires in the UK.
In scoring the individual schools we took into account several factors including the number of fires within a five mile radius, something which is beyond the control the school, but from a fire service and police perspective is important as there may be a pattern of arson within that area.
Ideally BLFRS would like to see sprinkler systems installed in all schools. The cost of installation is far outweighed by the cost of arson attacks, which not only destroy property but cause a huge amount of disruption to teaching staff and children alike.
We appreciate that with new school builds on hold and cuts being made elsewhere this cannot always be possible. But school heads and governors should understand that paying for a sprinkler system can result to massive savings in the event of a fire breaking out.”
BLFRS Southern Area Safety Manager John Foolkes said:
“We can work with school management teams to ensure risk reduction at virtually no or minimal costs using techniques such as those listed below. We are the enforcing authority for fire safety, but we want first to be a service which helps schools stay safe.
Sprinklers are of course, our preferred option and Luton has good track record installing these - eight out the 11 schools in the county with sprinklers are in Luton.”
Throughout this project BLFRS has been working with crime prevention officers from Bedfordshire Police and Health and Safety Officers from local councils to assess all schools and rate them according to their risk from arson.
Beginning with those at highest risk, all schools are visited and advised on ways to deter crime and reduce the risk of arson, for example:
- Regular removal of waste paper
- Wheelie bins secured 8 m from building
- Mobile classrooms 10 m from other buildings
- Arson proof letter boxes
- Security marking of valuable items
- End of the day lock up procedure
- Security fencing
- Hostile planting to deter unofficial access
- Security looking of windows
Beds Police Detective Sgt David Quamby said: "Since targeting those schools most at risk we have seen a significant fall in arson attacks and other reported crimes on school sites. We have worked closely with our colleagues in the Fire Service and local councils to improve security at schools and this has helped reduce theft, criminal damage and burglary there. The Police rely on the assistance of our partners and the community to help reduce crime and such partnership preventative work is always an excellent use of our resources."
*FREE seminars for Head Teachers and School Property Managers, to train them in making fire assessments are staged by BLFRS as part of this project. The next will be at Dunstable Community Fire Station on July 14th and 15th.
Bookings via Fire Safety Manager Len Allen on (012340 854000).
Says Len: “We are here to help prevent fires starting in schools or doing any more damage than is necessary. We don’t want to be sending fire engines out to a burning building which when closed will leave a gap in the whole community.
We are here to help, we can give free, expert advice and help schools avoid damage or worse still loss of life. Please call us now on (01234) 845000 - not later on 999.”
Video version of this story featuring Daubeney Middle School in Kempston can be found on www.local-news.tv