FIREFIGHTERS have been called out to 60 blazes at schools across North Yorkshire in the past five years.

According to data from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which covers York, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby, Craven and Harrogate, firefighters in the county have been called to 60 blazes in schools over that time with 13, more than one in five logged as being started deliberately.

The data from a Freedom of Information request has been released by Zurich Municipal, the leading insurer of schools in the UK, as part of a campaign its running calling for a law change on the fitting of sprinklers in schools.

They say that of the 60 school fire incidents in North Yorkshire, none had sprinkler systems fitted.

Zurich data also shows that nationally, schools are twice as likely to suffer a blaze than other types of commercial building, but despite this, many lack measures to prevent small fires becoming major disasters.

Back in 2018 an investigation followed a fire at Sherburn High School in Sherburn-in-Elmet when the gym and changing rooms were damaged in a blaze.

Zurich is now urging MPs to review the law and has started a parliamentary petition (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/549558) which it’s encouraging the public to sign to get the issue debated in parliament.

Nick Coombe, protection vice chair and building safety programme lead for the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: “The case for sprinklers is compelling. Of almost 1,000 fires over five years in buildings where sprinklers were fitted, our research found they controlled or extinguished blazes in 99 per cent of cases. 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.”

Tilden Watson, Zurich’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.

“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. Even so, cash strapped schools cannot be expected to pick up the bill. The government’s COVID-19 investment is a critical opportunity to ensure schools are more resilient to fire. Unless minsters change the law on sprinklers, much of this funding will be wasted on repairing the fire damage that sprinklers could have easily prevented.”