Fallstudier – Vilka tekniska faktorer spelar en roll vid anlagd brand i skolor?

Almost every day a school fire occurs in Sweden. In most cases arson is the cause of the fire. The losses for
these arson fires are considerable. In this report a number of cases studies have been conducted on school
fires in Sweden. The project envisages obtaining more knowledge on the technical factors that influence
the spread of fires with arson in schools. Solutions to mitigate the fire spread in these cases are also
proposed. As methods we used case studies on almost 60 fires, a specific case study in one town and an
enquiry to all fire investigators in the network of MSB. The study resulted in the identification of a
number of technical deficiency and solution to these. Some of the deficiencies are lack of detection systems
and automatic alarm systems, bad construction of roof and voids and insufficient fire barriers. Solutions
for these deficiencies can be automatic alarm systems with efficient location of different type of detectors
(smoke and heat detector cables), good illumination, surveillance cameras and sprinklers. In these areas it
will be necessary to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. The areas which need innovations are fire protection
system for roof eaves nearby the connection between facades and roofs, sprinklers and rescues tactics for
voids. Three possible fire scenarios were identified as important: one outside fire with waste nearby the
façade and two fires inside, with debris inside the school facilities and arson fire by throwing in flammable
liquids. These scenarios are important for the further development of technical solutions. Even that this
study focused on technical requirements a number of organisational deficiencies became apparent. The
systematic fire protection work as described in Sweden (SBA) does not always work as well as it should.
Moreover it is important to create a good environment around the schools which is not the case now in
many locations. Also involvement of school personnel is important. Finally it is important that one needs
to adapt almost a “zero tolerance” towards arson in schools by acting to each incident whether it is small
or large