Sprinkler System Activates During Southampton Flat Fire

A high-rise sprinkler system in Southampton played a key role in containing a kitchen fire, protecting residents, and enabling firefighters to bring the incident under control.

At around 5:00 pm on Tuesday, 12 August, crews from Eastleigh, Redbridge, St Mary’s, Hightown, and Southsea were called to a block of flats on Irving Road following reports of a fire on the third floor.

The fire was caused by textiles accidentally left on a cooking hob. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the flat to fully extinguish the flames.

Two cats were also rescued from the property and returned to their relieved owner.

Incident Commander Mark Caplen praised the building’s safety measures:

“The sprinklers in the flats operated exactly as intended, containing the fire to a single room and preventing it from becoming a far more serious incident. Once the system was isolated, we were able to enter the flat and fully extinguish the fire.

The occupier was already safely outside when we arrived, while other residents followed the building’s ‘stay put’ policy and guidance from our Control team. The building performed exactly as designed during the fire. This incident highlights the importance of having robust fire safety measures in place.”

The stop message was received at 6:30pm.