Zurich Municipal has called for sprinkler systems to be made compulsory in new and refurbished schools after a rise in the number of school fires over the past year.
It said the number of large fires causing significant damage to schools over the past year had increased by 55%, with the company estimating that over 90% of the fires being the result of arson attacks.
Related costs incurred as a result of these fires had grown 170% over the past ten years, it said.
According to Zurich Municipal, only 150 of the 28,000 schools in the UK are currently fitted with sprinkler systems. Losses in buildings that have sprinkler systems fitted are estimated to be just one tenth of those from unprotected buildings.
