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Schools are twice as likely to be hit by a fire than any other building. But there is no law in England to say they must be fitted with sprinklers.
Over the past five years 57 schools in Kent went up in flames. Of those, 16 - nearly one in four - were reported to have been arson attacks.
Two of the most recent were in Sittingbourne when a 14-year-old delinquent pleading guilty to setting fire to South Avenue Primary School and Sunny Bank Primary School. The fires destroyed desks and Christmas decorations and caused damage valued at up to £17,500.
According to insurers Zurich Municipal schools are twice as likely as other buildings to be hit by a blaze.
Using the Freedom of Information Act its investigators discovered that Kent Fire and Rescue had been called to 57 schools in five years of which 16 were logged as being started deliberately. Only one school was logged as having a sprinkler system.
Tilden Watson, Zurich Municipal’s head of education, said: “An alarming number of school buildings pose a high fire risk yet many are poorly protected against a potential blaze.
"Unless ministers bring England into line with other parts of the UK, large fires will continue to blight schools. This is harming children’s education and putting lives at risk."
She added: “As well as protecting pupils, sprinklers drastically reduce the extent of damage when there is a blaze, often confining the fire to a single room. It costs far more to repair fire-ravaged schools than it does to install sprinklers."
The company is calling on the law to change so all schools in England must be fitted with a sprinkler system.
Nationally, firefighters have been called to nearly 1,800 school blazes in the past three years with one in five started deliberately. Faulty electrics and kitchen blazes are among the other leading causes of fire.
The insurer says large fires in schools cost on average £2.8 million to repair and in some cases more than £20 million.
Nick Coombe, protection vice-chairman and building safety programme lead for the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: “The case for sprinklers is compelling.
Sprinklers can dramatically reduce fire damage making the reopening of a school much easier. This not only minimises the disruption to a pupil’s education but also the impact on their family, the community and the wider education establishment.”
