Fire chief: "Sprinklers restricted Dearne Valley warehouse fire"

FIRE officers say sprinklers were key to limiting the spread of a major fire at the ASOS warehouse near Goldthorpe.

Fire broke out at the 60,000 square metre site at around 10pm on Friday.

Ten fire engines and more than 60 firefighters helped put out the fire, which is estimated to have caused millions of pounds worth of damage in lost stock.

But the damage could have been even greater had the building not had a sprinkler system, with the fire service urging more businesses to invest in sprinkler systems to protect their assets.

The blaze at the ASOS warehouse involved four floors and is believed to have been started deliberately.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s head of prevention and protection, Phil Shillito, said: “The fire suppression systems installed by ASOS were sophisticated, worked effectively and played a significant role in reducing the spread of the fire in its early stages.

“This was still a major fire and our firefighters did a tremendous job in tackling the blaze and bringing it under control so quickly.

“But there is no doubt that the sprinkler system in place greatly limited the damage, and probably saved the warehouse from being destroyed.”

Currently, only warehouses and certain other commercial premises greater than 20,000m3 must have sprinkler systems installed, the fire service said.

Fire chiefs are campaigning for the threshold to be lowered.