Experience with Fire Suppression Installations for Wood Churches in Sweden

Abstract

During the last 100 years, approximately one church per year has been destroyed by fire in Sweden. When a church is lost to fire, invaluable artifacts vanish, both material and immaterial. Churches are important symbols and the cultural-historical value is in most cases very high. The installation of a fire suppression system is often the best measure for improving fire protection. This paper summarizes lessons learned and practical experience from some of the fire suppression installations made in small or intermediate sized wood churches in Sweden during recent years.