Failure to meet fire safety regulations despite a warning from local enforcement officers has led to a fine of more than £10,000 for the owners of a care home in South Yorkshire.
The owners of the nursing home in the village of Kendray, pleaded guilty to three separate breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The company had failed to provide a suitable fire risk assessment, and had also neglected to put in place adequate fire emergency procedures and fix defective fire doors. "These breaches were so serious that had there been a fire at the home there was a real danger that residents would have been seriously injured or worse," said a representative of the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. He also issued a warning to other care homes that "swift action" would be taken by the authorities if fire safety regulations are not adhered to.
For further information of fire safety in care homes visit our Care Home service page.
A family from Liverpool have been left devastated after the business they have been building up for almost a century was gutted in a huge fire.
According to the Liverpool Echo, printing firm S Barber and Co. Ltd was one of several industrial units to go up in flames on an estate on Lipton Close in Bootle. The blaze broke out in the early hours of July 30th and firefighters from eight crews spent four hours battling it using water from the nearby Leeds-Liverpool canal. Along with the unit where the fire started, the printers was the worst hit on the site. The owner of the building said that it is now a "black hole".
Demolition crews have been visiting the site and it is believed that they may pull down at least two of the units. The fire is not being treated as suspicious.
A 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment must be conducted on all commercial properties in England and Wales, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If the fire risk assessment is deemed to be carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or a prison sentence of up to two years.
An elderly woman had to be taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a Conwy care home. North Wales fire service were called to the Fairhaven Rest Home in Colwyn Bay at 6.09am on Wednesday (July 11th).
The four attending fire crews managed to bring the fire under control after around two hours but could not prevent the flames from damaging the room where the fire started. The first and second floors also suffered smoke damage.
One elderly female resident was taken to hospital, while another received treatment at the scene.
In England and Wales, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment must be conducted on all commercial properties. If the fire risk assessment is deemed to be carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or a prison sentence of up to two years.
An investigation has been launched to establish the cause of the blaze.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) has seen a significant fall in the number of false automatic fire alarms (AFAs) it responds to, since changing its policies for attendance. In the past three months, the fire brigade has stopped attending AFAs between the hours of 6am and 6pm unless confirmation of fire or signs of a fire is received.
Subsequently, daytime callouts for KFRS have fallen by 63 per cent. It estimates that the new policy has already saved fire crews from attending 450 false alarms, meaning that they are able to devote resources to genuine emergencies instead.
What's more, AFA calls to the service have also dropped by ten per cent in the period.
An inmate required medical treatment for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a prison in Scotland during the early hours of Thursday morning. The blaze took hold in a cell at Addiewell Prison, in West Lothian, at approximately 4.30am. While Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that one man was involved in the incident, a spokesperson for the local ambulance service said he did not require hospitalisation.
With the requirement that prisoners are locked securely in their cells at night, it is crucial that a rigorous fire risk assessment is conducted regularly so that they are not in danger if an incident occurs. It is of paramount importance that all staff know exactly what to do in the event that a fire breaks out, either in a cell or in a communal area, and that automatic detection systems are regularly tested. According to a spokesperson for the UK's Prison Service, "robust measures" are in place to deal with the risk of fires in prisons and each prison carries out regular assessments to ensure that prisoners, staff and visitors are as safe as possible.
A welder working on a bus sparked a blaze at a hanger in a former RAF base in Lincolnshire on Monday (July 9th).
Lincolnshire Fire And Rescue Service crews were called to Manby showground, near Louth, at about 5pm following sightings of smoke billowing from the building.
A police spokesman revealed that there had been several "small explosions" during the incident, with reports suggesting that gas canisters were inside the hangar. No-one was injured in the blaze. The building, which is owned by Winchester Marines, suffered severe external and internal damage but remains standing thanks to the actions of firefighters, who eventually left the scene at 1pm on Tuesday.
