Sprinklers could have stopped train station fire

The joint investigation into the circumstances around the Nottingham Train Station fire remains on-going, between NFRS and British Transport Police. 

The fire, which started in a public toilet in the new part of the building early on the morning of 12 January developed very quickly into a complex fire - spreading across the station concourse and into the roof, closing the station and affecting thousands of commuters nationally.

Crews from across the county worked throughout the day to tackle the fire and managed to get it extinguished by around 5pm. A number of appliances then stayed at the station overnight to help contractors clear up the site and make it safe for rail users.

Despite the significant fire and smoke damage to some areas of the station, five out of seven platforms were open, with trains running through, on 13 January.

NFRS incident commander Bryn Coleman told the BBC: "There were no sprinklers going off and I don't believe that there are any sprinklers in the building.

"If it had been a fire contained to the toilet block you would be looking at probably an hour for a single room fire.

"The damage would have been less, the impact to the wider community would have been less because we wouldn't have had to close the rail station, the roads wouldn't have been closed, and we probably would have dealt with it with two fire appliances."

The fire is being treated as arson and the investigation is ongoing.