Shame about the pier. I wonder how many arcade games had been plugged into extension leads? What amazes me is that the fire hoses are so in-effective. Is some technique or approach missing. I have seen with other fires that the fire services almost seem incapable of putting out a fire. I realise that their first concern maight be to prevent spread.
Their first priority is to save lives, including the lives of the fire crews. Saving property comes second to that. As it is, I think they did an excellent job of preventing the fire from spreading to other parts of the pier. I doubt they could have saved the building, which almost certainly had lots of hidden spaces where the fire could spread without it being possible to bring a hose to bear; the fire is said to have started behind a wooden panel.
Its not the first time its burned down you know. I was there before the first being shown the camera obscurer. Very impressive device, and no electrics. Brian
They said that the mains pressure was low and so they couldn't get as much water as they needed from the hydrants. The other supply, aka 'The English Channel', had an outgoing tide which also made supplies less than optimal.
I could smell it - we are to the East a couple of miles from Battle, and there was a distinct aroma - initially burning paint, then just burning
Andrew
Shame about the pier. I wonder how many arcade games had been plugged into extension leads? What amazes me is that the fire hoses are so in-effective. Is some technique or approach missing. I have seen with other fires that the fire services almost seem incapable of putting out a fire. I realise that their first concern maight be to prevent spread.
One would hope that structures like this would have sprinkler systems given the well known difficulties of fighting fires on them. That said, common sense usually doesn't apply for some reason. Maybe they would be ineffectual for other reasons though...
Tim
One would hope that there would be a fire-fighting main along the pier, connected to hydrants. One would also hope that it would have a point where a fire engine could tap into it and pump the sodding water to get the pressure up.
It's the new eco-friendly fire hoses. They have an A rating because they use less water :-)
Owain
On the R4 news today, it was said they were pleased to have been able to stop it spreading and destroying the whole thing.
A sprinkler system is only useful if it is activated by the fire and can play on the source of the fire. What appears to have happened here is that an electrical fault in an enclosed space caused a fire that got a good hold before any flames appeared.
MMM, lovely, all that burning lead paint that has been overpainted many times over the years. Hope the sensible onlookers stayed upwind.
Jeremy Vine was talking to the owner of the ?Burnham-on-Sea pier, which burnt down in 2008. The current building regs don't allow slatted floors which give piers their character, and the extra weight to comply with all the latest regs is far too much for the cast iron piers. Now there is a new structure supported on piles that are intermingled with the original cast iron stuff.
Saving life, then containment, then putting out. Some times they don't bother with the last bit and let it burn itself out whilst keeping an eye on it. Didn't they let (or are letting) one of the recent recycling center fires (tyres?) burn itself out?
Big open mostly timber structure like that is going to burn very well. There seemed to be a reasonable breeze as well on the pictures I saw.
Makes you wonder if it's still possible to buy fire insurance for a pier? If I was an insurer I think I'd insist on sprinklers ...
On the local radio, one of the Eastbourne Councillors was saying that it was impossible for concession holders on a pier to get business insurance and that the Council would be looking at how they could help those affected by the fire.
One would also hope that it would have a point
Doesn't work, you just suck the mains dry. Allan
Mind they have been experimenting with various forms of water sprayer which really do use less water.
On 31/07/2014 15:10, Tim Streater wrote: ...
What you are suggesting sounds like a horizontal version of the risers installed in tall buildings. If you are going to all that expense, why not also have a submerged high volume pump below spring low water mark, to feed the main with sea water? They used a similar system to draw fire fighting water from the Thames during the Blitz.
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