The EC Regulation governing the fitment of engine bay fire suppression equipment in new coaches changes this year – but it’s a very important thing to consider installing regardless of a vehicle’s age
A coach ablaze on the A52 in Derbyshire captured the media’s attention. It wasn’t the first time that a PCV has caught fire. The potential financial and reputational damage and safety implications of such an event are obvious.
It’s because of the latter that legislation governing engine bay fire suppression equipment on some newly-built coaches is changing from 11 July to make it a mandatory fitting.
For the purpose of EC Regulation 107, amendment 6, a coach is regarded as a vehicle that is designed to carry only seated travellers. Those subject to the Regulation have a passenger capacity exceeding 22. Both single- and double-deckers and even articulated examples are in scope.
But the Regulation won’t apply to all newly-built coaches. As it stands, only those certified under the Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) process will be required to comply.
Buses to follow
The Regulation was introduced for newly-designed coach models in July 2018. It will extend to new buses in a similarly phased manner by 2021. Besides engine bay fire suppression equipment, it requires an audible and visual warning in the cab.
Coaches certified under the Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) or National Small Series (NSS) mechanisms are not subject to the Regulation. but one operator points out that the reaction of enforcement authorities in other countries may not tally exactly with that interpretation.
As an illustration of the difference in requirements between approval methods, one supplier already fits fire suppression equipment to a pan-European coach model that is certified using WVTA. Some other models that it constructs in conjunction with bodybuilder partners are approved via IVA or NSS. They will not receive the kit as standard, but it is offered as an optional extra as has been for some time. Indeed, many coaches already have it.
New or retrofit
A variety of suppliers can provide fire suppression packages, either as part of a new build or – importantly – for retrofit to existing fleet members. Something to remember on vehicles with these systems is that when they activate, the bottle that stores the suppressant is completely emptied. Passengers thus cannot be carried until it has been refilled and recommissioned.
A common method activation is via a detection tube. In a Regulation 107-approved installation supplied by specialist firm Fireward, the exclusive UK distributor of Reacton Fire Suppression products, that tube bursts within 10 seconds at the point of highest heat.
Fireward says that recommissioning can be undertaken “within hours.” Its system – which uses 4kg of dry powder – is pneumatically activated, meaning that it will engage if the engine and master switch are off. That’s an important consideration to help avoid disastrous depot fires.
Reduce damage
Fireward adds that rapid engagement of the system means that no major damage to mechanical components is likely. Indeed, a video on its YouTube channel shows a bus where the engine stays running throughout the starting and extinguishing phases of the fire.
Another system, already fitted by at least one vehicle manufacturer, uses a water mist. It includes additives to prevent freezing and to create a film that avoids the reignition of residual diesel or other fluid deposits. It uses a pressurised detector pipe, which melts in a fire.
“After activation, technically a vehicle that is fitted with this equipment can be driven, but the audible and visual warnings in the cab would be active. Doing so would not be a pleasant experience,” says a representative of a vehicle OEM that fits the water mist system.
“We are not certain how the enforcement authorities would react to that. I suspect that they may only allow the vehicle to be driven to a place of repair. When the system discharges, it requires an agent to attend to refill the bottle. Certainly, there will be some downtime involved.”
A growing problem?
Statistics from the government show that between 2011 and 2017, 61% of vehicle fires involving PCVs started in the engine bay. Of that 61%, over a quarter resulted in an insurance write-off. Reasons given for fires have included the use of ultra-high-pressure fuel injection, higher temperatures in the engine bay, and sundry others, including electrical malfunction.
Any such fire event that involves a PCV is of interest to the local media and is reputationally damaging; last week’s blaze in Derbyshire closed a lane on a dual carriageway for a number of days.
Your next new coach may be certified under WVTA, in which case after 11 July it will have an engine bay fire suppression system. If it’s approved via IVA or NSS, it may be worth adding one to the specification to avoid the front page of the local newspaper should the worst happen.
routeone comment
Coach and bus fires happen more often than may be expected. Rarely a week passes without a report of one.
Why EC Regulation 107 in its latest form applies only to WVTA-certified coaches is unclear, but that does not mean that you should regard it as a baseline. The financial, reputational and safety implications of a burnt-out or seriously damaged vehicle are the same regardless of how it was approved.
In an ever-more litigious society, it’s difficult to argue against fitting engine bay fire suppression equipment as standard. Several suppliers will help you to do just that, with a variety of products available.
In many ways, a suppression system could be regarded as an extended insurance policy. In an ideal world, it will never be needed. But it’s there for the worst-case scenario.
