Fire chiefs renew calls to make sprinklers mandatory in schools Fire chiefs across the country have renewed calls for mandatory sprinklers in schools as new research estimates that 390,000 teaching hours could be lost in the next year as a result of large fires. An analysis of Home Office data by the insurer Zurich Municipal has found that school fires have destroyed the equivalent of 1,100 classrooms in the last five years. It also found that fire crews have been called to tackle 2,300 school blazes in England, which completely gutted 47 primary and secondary schools, and seriously damaged 230 others. Zurich Municipal – who looked at Home Office data from all 44 fire authorities in England – estimates that 390,000 teaching hours could be lost in the next year as a result of large fires alone, causing disruption for 28,000 children.