Fired up

Fire-related fatalities in England grew by 15% to 303 during 2015/16, the latest figures from the Home Office show.

The number of fire incidents attended by the fire and rescue services also rose by 5% to a total of 162,000 incidents.

Against this background, Hurst Plastics has bolstered its composite fire door offer to help customers take advantage of increasing demand for composite fire doors in both commercial and retail markets.

Howard Wilson, Hurst Plastics’ composite manager, said: “It is worrying that the number of fire incidents and deaths from fire has risen. Most fatalities from fire occur in the home or in social and affordable housing schemes, so it’s vital to ensure that appropriate passive fire protection systems are in place there to help to prevent the spread of fire. Fire doors are an important element.

“At Hurst, we’ve seen a marked rise in demand for composite fire doors and they now account for a large percentage of our business. We were however aware that some customers were nervous about composite fire doors because they were put off by complicated price guides, poor marketing and technical support, long lead times and unreliable deliveries. We developed a package to overcome all of these hurdles and to help customers to buy high quality composite fire doors with ease.”

In addition to technical support, Hurst has created a full marketing support package, which includes a re-vamped composite fire door brochure, individual retail price guides, personalised leaflets and tenants choice forms. Hurst also supplies pilot doors, samples and swatches for customers to demonstrate to tenants, specifiers, contractors and householders.

The new composite fire door brochure features a wide range of door styles and a number of frame, colour and glass options, including Pyrodur Plus glazing. The 44mm thick Hurst composite fire door leaf consists of a solid high performance core, which incorporates fire retardant phenolic foam and a high-density hardwood perimeter to provide a full half hour fire rating. The core is faced in a GRP colour finished skin, which is outwardly indistinguishable from Hurst’s standard composite doors. The skin is available in a four standard colours and any RAL Premium shade.

Hurst Plastics’ range of composite fire doors includes FD30, FD30S, FDSBD and FD60 which have been audited and certified by Warrington Exova BM Trada to guarantee quality and performance. The fire doors have also been fire and smoke tested for up to 30 minutes by Warrington Exova to ensure they conform to BS476: Part 22: 1987