Record £400,000 fine for retailer's fire safety breaches 26/11/2009

The fire closed part of Oxford Street for three days

High street retailer New Look has been fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £136,052 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of fire safety legislation, following a serious fire at its Oxford Street store in London.

Thirty five fire engines and around 150 firefighters attended the fire on 26 April 2007, when around 450 people form the store and surrounding premises were evacuated. The first call to the fire service did not come until an office worker in an adjacent building took action, and the delay meant that the fire had already broken through the second floor windows when firefighters arrived. Despite the building's fire alarm sounding, the alarm was reset on at least one occasion, said London Fire Brigade.
 

Crews remained on the scene for the next three days and a section of Oxford Street was closed to traffic and the public for two days. The cause of the fire was never established and the store was subsequently demolished.
 

One charge to which New Look pleaded guilty was for an inadequate fire risk assessment which was found to have a number of flaws, including no record of the appropriate procedures to be taken during a fire alarm. Another breach was insufficient staff training, which led to a delayed evacuation of the premises. This lack of training, said LFB, also led to staff evacuating around 150 people through the main entrance which was directly underneath the fire on the second floor.
 

Other alleged breaches taken into account included the absence of an interface between the swipe card system and the fire alarm panel which would have deactivated the doors. In addition, green emergency door release units were fitted on the wrong side of the basement doors.
 

Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Councillor Brian Coleman, said: “Good business management includes taking responsibility for fire safety, knowing the law and acting on it. This conviction shows that large companies are not exempt from prosecution and that London Fire Brigade will take action when businesses do not take their fire safety responsibilities seriously. Failure to comply with the law can, as this case has shown, result in a substantial fine.”
 

Sentencing of New Look took place at Southwark Crown Court on 25 November 2009.

Hundreds evacuated in seaside hotel fire 04/09/2009

Around 850 people were evacuated from a hotel in Folkestone following a fire which started in a second floor guest room. 

Fire crews attending the Burstin Grand hotel in Folkestone last month were confronted with a heavily smoke logged guest room and corridor on the second floor of the eight-storey building. At its height, five fire appliances along with 35 firefighters attended the incident.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the fire using hydrants, jets and a positive pressure ventilation (PPV) fan. 816 guests - three of whom had physical disabilities - and 44 staff were evacuated.

The fire started after a couple staying at the hotel lit tea lights in their room and left them unattended. One of the tea lights, which had been left on top of a television, burnt through the set starting the fire.

Russ Jordan, Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s group manager of operations who attended the incident said: “Unfortunately people often treat tea lights as some sort of harmless decoration but we know that they can cause damage, destruction and even death.”

Church pleads guilty to fire safety offences 28/07/2009

A church organisation has been ordered to pay £30,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to breaches of fire safety legislation following a prosecution brought by London Fire Brigade.

 The organisation – Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International – pleaded guilty to three contraventions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Sentencing occurred on Friday 24 July 2009 at Woolwich Crown Court.

The Church held its services at Crabtree Manorway South in Erith. A prohibition notice was issued in June 2007 restricting to 600 the number of people on the ground floor of the premises.

But when the premises were inspected by the fire brigade in January 2008, around 1200 people were found to be in the main hall during a service. One fire exit could not be accessed as it was blocked by a steel bar, while another adjoining fire exit was chained and locked. The risk of an explosive and fast spreading fire was increased by what was described as the haphazard storage of 18 LPG and butane bottles and the use of naked flame heaters inside the main hall.

“It is regrettable that we had to bring this action against a charitable church organisation but there were significant fire safety failures,” commented Steve Turek, assistant commissioner for fire safety regulation. “These offences presented a real risk of injury to the congregation who are our main concern. Church groups and others which organise large gatherings need to make sure their premises are fit for purpose and that they take their responsibility very seriously to ensure the safety to visitors.”

Coroner warns of hotel fire risks as Penhallow inquest returns open verdict 18/06/2009

The jury returned an open verdict

The coroner leading the inquest into the three deaths in the 2007 fire at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay has warned of the risk of further deaths, unless there is government support for hotels and guesthouses to invest in fire safety or to ensure compliance with the law.

Dr Emma Carlyon made the comments at the conclusion of the inquest in Truro, when she directed the jury to return an open verdict after hearing more than three weeks of evidence into the fire.

She said: “I…intend to write to the minister for tourism to highlight to her the concerns raised by those at the inquest about the change in fire legislation and to self regulation in 2006 and the risks of future deaths, in particular of hotels and guesthouses, if sufficient measures are not provided to support the investment in fire safety or to ensure compliance.”

She also reminded owners of hotels and guesthouses that they, and they alone, were responsible for complying with the provisions of the Fire Safety Order, especially regarding regular fire risk assessments and taking general fire precautions.

Although there was evidence that the fire at the Penhallow Hotel started from a naked flame, investigators were unable to say for certain how it began. Last year, four people previously arrested in connection with the investigation into the fire were released without charge.

Speaking after the verdict, detective chief inspector Darren Lockley said the speed and spread of the fire was unprecedented. “The inquest goes some way to explaining the tragic loss of lives, however we now wish to appeal for any information that will enable the families to fully understand what happened.”

A statement on behalf of the bereaved families said they were satisfied with the evidence that had been given at the inquest but were disappointed with the open verdict.

Landlords imprisoned for fire safety breaches 17/06/2009

Two landlords of bedsit accommodation in north London have been sentenced to six months' imprisonment and ordered to pay £5000 costs each for breaching fire safety legislation. The prosecution followed a fire on 31 March 2007 at a house converted into bedsits on Hampden Road, London N8.

Michael de Havilland and Sally Fox of Muswell Hill were sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday 12 June, after previously pleading guilty to several breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. These included inadequate fire detection systems, a lack of proper fire doors for bedrooms or for the communal kitchen, no emergency lighting in the building’s stairway, a lack of firefighting equipment such as a fire extinguisher or fire blankets, and no fire risk assessment available for inspection.

A further inspection was arranged where an enforcement notice was issued, explaining that the breaches needed to be dealt with. But after further contact with the co-owners and further inspections over a number of months, inspecting officers found that no remedial work had been completed.

“This is our second prosecution resulting in a custodial sentence and again sends out a strong message to landlords and building owners,” said Brian Coleman, chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. “Our role is to keep Londoners safe, and where we see that you are not taking your legal fire safety responsibilities seriously, we will take action.”