Jagiellonian University

The Client

The Jagiellonian University was founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kraków. It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world. It was ranked by QS World University Rankings as the best Polish university among the world's top 500 and by the ARWU as the best Polish higher-level institution. In 2006, The Times ranked Jagiellonian as Poland's top university.

Risks & Consequences

Fire can cause the loss of valuable and irreplaceable assets and even threaten human lives; moreover, consequential damage leads to loss of trust and status. The main causes of fire are frequently traced back to human error, malfunctions in electrical equipment or to heat producing equipment. This is especially true for chemistry laboratories, which often involve experimentation with highly flammable chemicals. Additionally and above all, the safety of students is the University’s primary concern and that is why cutting-edge fire protection is considered of paramount importance. 

The Task

The new state-of-the-art chemistry laboratories of Jagiellonian, considered to be one of its most valuable assets, along with its historical and irreplaceable archives, had to be protected. The task then was to design, commission and install modular fire suppression systems, capable of protecting the various flammable materials in several areas such as hazardous materials in storage rooms, hazardous waste, and, most critically, the documentation and archives rooms. The Jagiellonian Archives in particular are of great importance to the university, as it is where research heritage of past generations is preserved. 

Why FirePro?

Since highly flammable liquid materials were also involved, the system’s reaction speed and effectiveness were decisive technological factors in the selection process. FirePro’s multi class fire extinguishing capabilities and low maintenance and modularity were further decisive factors for applying its technology. FirePro was the preferred technology to protect the archive rooms as other fire suppression technologies could do more harm in the case of an activation, rather than protect the irreplaceable documents. The University’s sensitivity to Environmental Sustainability issues matches FirePro’s dedication to sustainability as is evidenced through its EU and other International Certificates.

Results of Implementation

Jagiellonian University selected to install the proposed FirePro fire suppression solutions, since they combined all the operational and technical characteristics required for these challenging applications.  FirePro fire suppression systems can effectively extinguish A, B & C classes of fire, safeguarding the continuity of this historic University. Moreover, the long lifetime of the system (15 years) and its low maintenance provides Health & Safety officers with peace of mind and sense of mission-fulfilment.