School evacuated as fire destroys buildings
Around 200 pupils at school in south Wales had to be evacuated when a blaze broke out on 19th June.
The fire started in an area which housed the ICT suite at Betws Primary School, near Bridgend, at around 2.30pm.
One section of the school was destroyed but the nursery, infants and Flying Start buildings were not damaged.
Police advised local residents to remain indoors, keeping windows shut due to the huge amount of thick black smoke coming from the fire.
A spokesman for Bridgend council said: “This has been an upsetting incident for all pupils, and staff and council officers are arranging support for those children who need it. The council is grateful for the prompt response of school staff and the emergency services. Council officers are on the scene and will be working with the police and fire service to find the cause of the blaze and secure the area.”
More than 1300 schools each year suffers a fire large enough to be attended by the local fire services and 56% of these were classed as non-accidental. The average cost of school fires was £58 million per year between 2000 and 2004. This means that the odds of a school experiencing a fire are 1 in 20! This does not account for the fires that are not reported or put out by members of staff.
Most of these fires are small and do not spread from the source of the fire, but the unpredictability of fire means this may not be the case. As the large number of fires are not accidental, it is important that you look at arson reduction measures.
The fire Safety in Educational Premises course is designed with the above statistics in mind, along with the expertise of our trainers, all of whom have no less than 10 years operational fire fighting experience in a UK fire service, involving many visits to educational premises.
For further information, call us now on 0845 0553 999 or contact us
Fire at substation leaves hundreds without electricity
Hundreds of residents in Twickenham were left without electricity on 11th June after a faulty fuse caught fire in an electric substation.
The incident in Radnor Road left at least 226 people without power over night and the following morning.
A spokesperson for UK Power Networks said: “The cause of the interruption was traced to a fault on a piece of equipment at our substation which has now been permanently replaced to maintain reliable power supplies for our customers.”
It is thought that the probable cause of the fire is due to the equipment being old or incorrectly installed.
Fire crews from Sutton, Kingston and Twickenham attended the incident and spent around two hours at the scene.
A firefighter from Twickenham, who attended the incident, said: “The building was 95 per cent empty, just with this substation in it. There was a lot of smoke and you could see the residents were fairly worried looking out.”
The UK Power Networks spokesman added: “For safety reasons, our engineers had to isolate power supplies to 226 customers at 10.26pm last night so repair work could take place. This work is still on-going. We appreciate how frustrating it is to be without power and we would like to apologise to affected customers for the inconvenience caused.”
Blaze destroys Historic Cambridgeshire wedding venue
A huge fire has destroyed one of Cambridgeshire’s most popular wedding venues.
The fire broke out at the historic Chilford Hall in Linton at around 3am on 13th June. 60 firefighters attended the fire and spent several hours battling the 50ft flames.
Firefighters managed to save the house, wine store and the shop. The 18th-century Linton Barn and the Grade II-listed Great Hall, The Pavilion and Gallery were all destroyed in the fire.
Simon Alper, who worked on the renovations of the Hall for many years said: “There’s a building in the middle which is made of wood and you have a very short space of time to get to it if it catches fire, so in the middle of the night it caught hold. The fire brigade have been brilliant to save the winery and the study centre.”
The Management at Chilford Hall have been trying to book marquees in order to fulfil bookings including marriages and major conferences which are to take place in the coming weeks and months.
Mr Alper added “We are getting on the phone talking to clients and sorting out whatever we can for them. That’s the business we’re in, of looking after people – although we’ve had this devastating fire, we still have to look after them. We’re so sorry for them, we’ll do whatever we can.”
Steve Elve from Linton fire station, said: “The fire was well-established where it was set so in those buildings it was impossible to stop. Because of the hard work of the crews we managed to stop it spreading further. It’s a business everyone knows and is locally proud of so to see it lost this way will be devastating for the local area. We hope we have managed to salvage some of the operation for them to continue trading.”
Two men have been arrested in connection with the blaze and are being held at Parkside police station on suspicion of arson.
Gloucestershire fire service smoke alarm warning
Gloucestershire Fire Service are asking households to check that their smoke alarms are fitted in the correct place.
It is thought that there were around 3000 incidents last year where the smoke alarm was not triggered in a fire. Statistics have shown that the biggest reason why a smoke alarm will not sound in the event of a fire is because smoke did not reach the alarm in order to set it off.
Geoff Sallis, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, said: “The vast majority of us now have at least one smoke alarm in our homes. However, early detection and warning is vital to seriously reduce the devastation a fire can cause. You should make sure you have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home, preferably in hallways and landings. Placing smoke detectors in rooms where there are electrical appliances could give you the extra warning you need.”
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service have advised households to have a fire alarm on each level, on the ceiling in the middle of a room or hallway. People should also make sure they test their alarms regularly.
13 die in Turkish prison fire
Thirteen prisoners have died in a fire at a Turkish prison which broke out on the evening of 16th June. It has been reported that the fire was started deliberately by inmates during a dispute.
Five prisoners were taken to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters took nearly 2 hours to bring the blaze under control whilst security personnel attempted to restore order at the prison.
Celalettin Guvenc, Sanliurfa governor said: “Why weren’t (the firefighters) there on time, what caused the fighting, why were these people killed? All of these will be investigated.”
Police Officers blocked road access to the jail and it has been reported that they used pepper spray to disperse the angry crowds which had begun to gather outside the prison.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched. The investigation will also look at the time it took authorities and emergency services to respond to the fire.