Hair straighteners cause fire in flat
Two women escaped from a fire which broke out in their flat in Ruxley Court on Tuesday morning.
The fire started when hair straighteners that had been left switched on, over heated and set fire to a pile of clothes.
Luckily the occupants were alerted by the smoke alarm and managed to get out of the flat quickly. They were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. The fire damaged carpets and contents of the flat and the rest of the building suffered smoke damage.
Brian Griffiths from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We urge people to make sure they have turned off all electrical appliances when they have finished using them and before leaving the house. Electrical items, such as hair straighteners, irons or heaters, should not be placed near to combustible items which are likely to overheat and catch fire. We would also advise people not to use such appliances when they are under the influence of alcohol as it is very easy to forget that they are switched on, or they may even fall asleep. Fortunately the property was fitted with a smoke alarm which alerted the occupants to the fire, giving them enough time to get out safely.”
Hotel collapses in huge fire
A hotel on the Isle of Wight has collapsed after a huge fire broke out during a wedding reception on the evening of 17th March.
50 firefighters from 6 crews attended the incident at The Ryde Castle Hotel, in Ryde, at around 10pm and were still at the scene on Sunday morning.
Chief fire officer Steve Apter said: “[They] were faced with quite a serious fire in the roof and the upper floors in the middle part of the building. Firefighters were withdrawn from the building just before the collapse. The problem is it’s an old building of old construction so access was particularly difficult for crews. We managed to bring the fire under control and stop it from spreading any further. There was, unfortunately, a wedding party taking place in the hotel at the time so they were evacuated very swiftly with the management of the hotel. Everybody was out of the building when firefighters arrived on scene. We have had a collapsed middle part of the building so obviously very dangerous and difficult conditions for firefighters to be working in but thankfully no injuries.”
The historic castle is thought to have been built for Henry VIII in about 1540 to defend the Spithead, Southampton Water and the Solent from the invasion by the Spanish Armada.
It is thought that the fire may have been started by a stray firework during a display at the wedding reception.
Ex hotel owners to appear in court for fire safety breaches
The jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court took 55 minutes to find the former owners of the Connaught Hotel West Midlands Ltd guilty of 11 charges of failing to take sufficient fire precautions.
Jurors heard how the venue was a “death trap” hotel that put lives at risk with a “catalogue of failures”.
The breaches were discovered by investigators after a fire tore through the hotel in October 2007. These included the fire alarm not working, no smoke alarms or detectors in rooms, fire exits blocked and one fire door without a handle.
Investigators discovered that fire blankets were missing and fire exit routes were blocked. One fire alarm had been covered with a plastic bag.
The 87-bedroom hotel is now owned by another company.
Mr Jackson, prosecuting said many of the guests in the hotel at the time only knew something was wrong “when they heard people screaming and banging on doors to get out”. He told the jury the failures “turned the hotel into a death trap”.
He added: “The fact no-one died or was seriously injured in the fire was good fortune. All of the people staying there were at risk from this catalogue of failures and fire safety breaches. The photographs taken by the fire service speak for themselves.”
Sentence will be passed at Wolverhampton Crown Court on March 13.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that you: ‘must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed’
This means that all companies as a first point in their Fire Safety must complete a Fire Risk Assessment. This must be carried out by a competent person, who is trained to perform risk assessments. Your Fire Training needs, your fire extinguisher needs and any other fire safety related issues you will need to address will be highlighted from the Fire Risk Assessment.
Historic 17th century thatched barn destroyed in fire
A large blaze has destroyed a historic 17th century thatched barn in Denchworth, South Oxfordshire.
Local residents described the blaze that broke out at around 3am on 11th March as “horrific”.
70 firefighters attended the fierce blaze trying desperately to prevent the flames from spreading to neighbouring homes. Many trees were cut down to stop the fire spreading further.
The flames were so severe that at one point firefighters were unable to walk past the buildings due to the intense.
The barn was part of the Denchworth Manor which is a Grade II listed building. It was recently sold by Savills UK for around £4.75m.
Eye witness, Rosemary Jones said: “It was horrific when we looked out the window and saw the flames going up, especially as we live in a thatched building.”
Mike Jones, added: “We were concerned about it spreading until we spoke to the fire chief and they said it was under control. But if the wind had been up and coming from that direction everyone would have had a problem.”
Another local resident from Denchworth said: “It was one hell of a blaze. I was standing 200 yards away and I could feel the heat. From what I could see the firefighters could not put it out, but they contained it from getting to the manor house or any other buildings. They did a great job. But they were beautiful, elegant thatched barns with a lot of history and significance to this village. It is a disaster to this area.”
During the fire, electricity pylons were damaged, cutting power to the community for over an hour.
David Heycock, Fire service group manager said: “The spread of the fire was so quick we were unable to prevent the loss of the building.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out.
Church made famous by Bob Marley, destroyed in fire
A church in London that was used by Bob Marley during the filming of the video for his ‘Is This Love’ song has been destroyed in a fire.
Around 40 firefighters attended the fire at the Christ Apostolic Church in King’s Cross, London last week.
The church has been severely damaged and 20 people were evacuated from nearby properties.
The building used to be home to ‘Keskidee’ which was thought to be the UK’s first cultural centre for the black community and was founded in 1971. It was known for its theatre productions and also claimed to be the birthplace of dub poetry which is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin.
Fire station manager Mick Sawyer said firefighters spent most of the evening the scene damping down. The fire is thought to have started on the ground floor and spread to the roof area.
Councillor Catherine West from Islington Council, said: “This was a serious fire and I am very thankful no-one was hurt. The church was the site of the former Keskidee, Britain’s first arts centre for the black community, and many residents still have memories of its heyday in the 70s and 80s.”