Fire at Canary Wharf hotel
A fire a the Marriot Hotel in Canary Wharf, London broke out in the ground floor restaurant on the evening of 12th November.
Over 200 guests, including Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp were evacuated after the fire alarm system was activated. Over 50 fire fighters tackled the fire for over 4 hours. Several people were treated for smoke inhalation but there were no other serious casualties.
The cause of the fire is not known.
Leeds landlord guilty of fire safety breaches
A Yorkshire landlord has pleaded guilty to fire safety breaches at his property in Headingly.
Mr Mushtaq was charged with several breaches of the house in multiple occupation license, including failing to provide adequate fire detection systems. The property, which he rented out to students, also had insufficient fire doors.
Mr Mushtaq was ordered by Leeds Magistrates Court to pay a fine of £2,500 and costs of £2,322.
Dundee oil refinery blaze
More than 30 firefighters were called to a fire at an oil refinery in Dundee on the morning of Wednesday, 10th November.
Over 2,000 litres of oil were on fire at the plant. Thankfully there were no casualties, but Fraser Scott from the Macalpine Road fire station said the sight was “spectacular”.
This is not the first fire of its kind at the plant – fire officers and Nynas engineers are investigating why there have been 3 fires at the site in the last year.
Toddler dies in house fire
A toddler has died in a fire at a house in Crewe, Cheshire.
Firefighters managed to rescue the youngster from the house but sadly, the child died at the scene. The mother and two other children managed to escape from the building via first floor windows.
An investigation will now be carried out by police and the fire service to establish the cause of the blaze.
Berkshire school fails inspection over fire safety
An Ofsted report has labelled an Arborfield primary school as inadequate in a recent inspection, with a number of measures highlighted as needing to improve in order to ensure the safety of its pupils.
The inspection was carried out back in July at Coombes CE Primary School in School Road and results have now been published where it has been marked down for its overall effectiveness.
The Ofsted report said:
“The school has not been rigorous in its approach to a range of matters relating to pupils’ health and safety, including monitoring of fire safety, first aid, and the preparation of risk assessments. As a result, care, guidance and support and governance are inadequate.”
Concerns over health and safety are therefore at the top of the agenda, with staff promising that improvements are now underway.
Acting headteacher for the school, Patrick Pritchett, said:
“We are naturally very disappointed but staff, governors and students are determined to work collectively together to address the issues raised in the report.
“We have already tackled safeguarding issues and children, staff and parents returned to school this month prepared to positively embrace a number of new routines.
“With a fantastically motivated and positive team at the school, and children who love coming here, we aim to have met the requirements of the improvement notice by the summer.”
The outcome of this report by Ofsted shows that fire safety and risk assessment are important considerations if an educational establishment can be deemed to be safe. Therefore, it is necessary to put the right measures in place.