A fire believed to have been started deliberately following a burglary at a 2500m2 multi-occupied premises was brought under control by sprinklers.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescuse Service were alerted to the sprinkler activation at the two-storey premises in Wellingborough on 28 December 2011.
Group manager Baz Fox said that there were a number of seats of fire, indicating deliberate ignition, and it was believed the fire was started following a burglary over the Christmas break.
About 20% of the room of origin was affected by the fires but only one seat of fire, caused by paper being ignited under a table, caused the sprinklers to operate.
Because of the shielded nature of the fire it is estimated that it took about 15 minutes for the sprinkler system to bring the fire under control.
No firefighting action was required by the fire service, who deployed seven firefighters to the incident.
