Large fire at Sussex Skip warehouse
Firefighters attended a huge fire at a warehouse in Sussex on Tuesday, 24th July.
The fire broke out at the Sussex Skips building in, Newhaven at around midnight. Flames could be seen for several miles. Eyewitness said that the blaze lit up the skyline “like a volcano”.
Sergeant Dave Tye from East Sussex CID said: “The cause of the fire is yet unknown and we will continue to work alongside our colleagues at East Sussex Fire and Rescue who are continuing with their forensic examinations at the scene today.”
A full investigation into the cause of the fire will now be carried out. It is not yet known if the fire was started deliberately.
Tyneside restaurant owner fined over £6000 for fire safety breaches
Amed Ali, owner of the Light of India restaurant in Wallsend, Tyneside has pleaded guilty to 12 offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when he appeared at North Tyneside magistrates court in May.
Mr Ali was fined £250 for each offence and ordered to pay £3,500 in costs.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service launched legal proceedings against Mr Ali after officers inspected the restaurant in May 2011 and found that he had permitted people to sleep above the restaurant when it was unsafe to do so as there had been no fire risk assessment carried out and there were insufficient escape routes.
Darren Boddy from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It is the responsibility of all business owners to ensure the safety of anyone on their premises. A fire risk assessment must be undertaken to identify the risks to the people within the premises and the accommodation must have an appropriate standard of fire safety measures, systems and adequate escape routes. By failing to ensure these fire safety provisions are in place, some business owners are putting people’s lives at risk. We always strive to work with businesses to ensure the safety of their staff and members of the public, but where necessary we will not hesitate to take legal action against those who do not and continue to flout the law.”
Worcester sandwich shop damaged in fire
A fire broke out in a Worcester sandwich shop on the morning of 15th July.
The entire street had to be closed as firefighters tackled the blaze at Daisy’s Kitchen in Pump Street at around 10.10am. Smoke could be seen pouring from the ground and first floors of the building.
Crews from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service attended the incident.
Watch Commander Carl Horsburgh, from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said: “It’s likely that the fire had been burning for some time before it was discovered. Thankfully there were no injuries and we were able to clear the smoke from the affected premises using ventilation equipment.”
A Thomas Cook shop and a hairdressers also suffered smoke damage. The fire is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault in a chiller cabinet.
No casualties were reported in the blaze.
Fire rips through Istanbul skyscraper
A huge fire broke out in an Istanbul skyscraper on 17th July.
Firefighters, with the help of helicopters managed to contain the blaze in the 42-storey Polat Tower and amazingly there were no casualties reported. The building was equipped with a fully working fire extinguishing system which helped to contain the situation.
Extensive external damage was caused to the building.
Mustafa Sarigul, the mayor of the district of Sisli said: “The building’s fire-extinguishing system automatically activated. Otherwise we could have faced a huge disaster.”
Adnan Polat, who owns the tower block said: “Our biggest reward is there was no loss of life. This building has an early warning system and this incident showed the importance of it to everyone.”
Fire Suppression Systems are designed to trigger in the event of a fire in a specific area in order to maintain or extinguish the fire. These systems are typically installed in mission critical business areas, such as computer data centres, server rooms, kitchens and restaurants, etc. More and more businesses are installing these in other areas as they realise the risk to the business that fire can cause.
These systems can either suppress a fire until the fire brigade arrives, or can completely extinguish the fire. The different types of system vary as some areas may have electronic equipment in that could be damaged if a water based system was used for example.
These are:
- Gas Fire Suppression Systems
- Water Mist Fire Suppression Systems
- Foam Deluge Fire Suppression Systems
- Reacton Fire Suppression Systems
- Kitchen Fire Suppression Systems
To book or for more further information please call us on 0845 0553 999 or go to our Contact Us Page
200 staff evacuated in BMW plant fire
A fire broke out at the BMW Mini plant in Cowley on 13th July.
Around 200 staff were quickly evacuated from the plant in Oxford after a small fire broke out in an air conditioning unit on the top of a building on site.
Firefighters from Rewley Road and Slade and Abingdon fire stations arrived at the scene at around 5.30pm on Friday.
Firefighters took around one hour to extinguish the fire.
Wayne Morse from BMW said: “Once the all-clear was given, the work force in that area returned.”
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.