Trial opens for firefighters killed tackling warehouse fire
The trial has opened into the death of 4 firefighters who died in a warehouse fire. Prosecutors believe the men were sent into a highly dangerous situation for no good reason.
Warwickshire firemen Ashley Stephens, Darren Yates-Badley, John Averis and Ian Reid died when tackling a fire at a storage compartment containing cardboard boxes and old furniture.
Prosecutor, Mr Matthews told the jury: “It’s only about the needless loss of four lives, four individuals, lost as a result of having been sent into a situation where no one was in peril. Sent into what was and should have been recognised as an obviously dangerous situation, for no good reason.”
It is reported that water sprinklers in the warehouse had not been connected at the time of the fire.
The trial will last around 10 weeks.
Residents evacuated at Stapleford flat blaze
Around 20 people were evacuated from a large fire that broke out in a block of flats in Stapleford at around 5.40am on 29th April.
The fire started in a first floor flat. A couple and a 3 year old girl were taken to a local hospital to receive treatment for smoke inhalation. One other person required hospital treatment for minor injuries.
Firefighters spent several hours tackling the blaze. Residents in nearby flats were evacuated as a precaution.
The British Red Cross arrived at the property to provide temporary shelter for residents until a structutal engineer has assessed the extent of the damage.
Fire destroys Sheffield Ski Village
The Sheffield Ski Village complex has suffered severe damage after a huge blaze broke out on 29th April at around 1am.
25 Firefighters arrived at the scene just off Vale Road, to find the main building, which is a wooden structure, in flames.
Stuart Nicholson from the fire service said: “We suspect acetylene cylinders are inside the building but we have not confirmed yet if we have been able to put water on the cylinders. We are pumping around 3,000 litres of water per minute onto the fire from the River Don and have all but extinguished the flames. There is very little remaining of the building. It could be a further 24 hours before we can get closer to the site to carry out our investigation because of the risk of cylinders being involved in fire.”
It is thought that no one was on sight at the time of the fire. A safety cordon was set up around the area due to fears of acetylene cylinder explosions.
It is not yet known how the fire started but a full investigation will now be carried out.
Nottingham factory evacuated as fire breaks out in oven duct
40 people were evacuated from a Nottingham factory after a fire broke out in an oven duct.
15 Firefighters from Highfields and Stapleford were called to the Fresh Cut Limited factory in Lilac Grove, Beeston, at around 7.30am on Sunday, 15th April. It took around 1 hour to extinguish the blaze.
There were no casualties reported in the incident.
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.
Somerset furniture store damaged in blaze
A Somerset furniture store has suffered severe damage after a fire broke out at around 2am on 14th April.
Firefighters were called to the Country Oak Furniture store in Frome after a fire broke out on the ground floor.
The store suffered damage to around half of the property. It is thought that the fire started after a boiler ignited due to a “flammable atmosphere caused by thinners vapours”.
A spokesperson for Frome Fire and Rescue Service said: “There was a great deal of smoke when we arrived but we managed to get the fire under control quite quickly.”
There were no casualties reported in the incident