Fire crews battle sprinkler system at Bhs, Wolverhampton

Fire crews spent five hours successfully battling to save thousands of pounds worth of stock from being ruined by the sprinkler system at a top Wolverhampton store yesterday.

The drama was sparked by a suspected electrical fault in CCTV equipment in the manager's office at the Bhs shop that has entrances in Dudley Street and the Mander Centre.

A mounted screen monitor over heated, caught light and fell to the floor igniting paper and chair.

This activated the sprinkler system in that room which is on the first floor of the building and set off the fire alarm prompting staff to evacuate customers from the store shortly after 4pm.

Four appliances from Merridale Street and Fallings Park fire stations were called to the scene and quickly put out the flames that had been confined to the managers officer.

But many gallons of water had showered the room by the time the sprinkler system could be turned off and this soon started seeping through ducting and ceilings to the ground and lower ground floors below the office.

Staff had also been evacuated from the shop and so fire crews had to move stock to stop it being damaged by the water which was sucked up with industrial aqua vacs.

Fire crews finally left the store around 9pm leaving electricians to check possible water damage to its power system.

Watch commander David Nail said: "The fire activated the sprinkler system in the manager's office and this threw out water at quite a rate of knots. It prevented the fire spreading to other parts of the building but could have pumped out hundreds of gallons before it could be switched off.

"We quickly put out the fire, moved stock out of the way and sucked up the water as quickly as possible. Fortunately there was not much damage to the stock but some ceiling panels may need replacing."

Electricians were deciding whether the store could open for business as usual today(wed). Store staff declined to comment.