When the local fire brigade here in Douglas carried out a safety demonstration by setting two old council houses on fire yesterday, it provided the perfect excuse to grab a camera and venture out of the office for a bit – all in the name of health & safety, of course.  Here’s the news story explaining what went on and some pictures from the day:

Homes set alight for fire demonstration

A demonstration by the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service drew crowds to Pulrose this morning.

Two unoccupied houses – numbers 5 and 7 Hazel Crescent – were set alight to demonstrate the effectiveness of sprinkler systems in limiting the severity of domestic fires.

The fires were lit in the lounges of the two properties.

The flames in one were left to take hold for a while – those in the other were extinguished by a sprinkler system.

After several minutes onlookers witnessed a severe blaze develop in the unprotected property.  

Smoke and flames billowed out of the doors and the windows began breaking.

Crews had to step in earlier than planned to tackle the blaze.

The property next door fared a lot better and the sprinkler system kicked in, quickly putting out the flames and limiting the damage caused.

The other house was severly damaged.

Short video of it here

The Pictures:

First, the property without sprinkler system is set on fire (click on the pics for a bigger version – opens in new window):

Result after only 5 minutes of fire: one ruined property

Then, the property with sprinkler system is subjected to the same kind of fire. The sprinkler activated at 56 degree celcius and as a result, there wasn’t much of a fire:

A comparison of the two living rooms afterwards – quite a difference: