Arson suspected at historic County Durham Granary
A fire which broke out at a grade II listed building in County Durham is thought to have been started deliberately.
The granary at Croxdale Hall suffered serious damage in the fire which started on the morning of 27th July. Crews spent over 14 hours tackling the fire.
A staircase was destroyed and many solid timber beams and floor boards were also seriously damaged.
Gary Bankhead from the fire service said that although the building was always locked, when crews arrived a door was open several windows on the ground floor were also open.
Mr Bankhead said: “We are working with the police to undertake a full fire investigation to identify the cause of the fire.”
Fire at Olympic media centre
A fire broke out at an Olympic site just hours before it was set to officially open.
Firefighters attended the incident at the media centre at the Weymouth Pavilion where the Olympic 2012 sailing team were due to be interviewed by journalists.
It is thought that the fire started in the men’s toilets and was quickly put out by fire crews.
The building was evacuated and Olympic interviews had to be rescheduled at an alternative venue. There were no casualties reported in the incident.
A spokeswoman for Dorset Police confirmed that the police force is working with Dorset Fire and Rescue Service to establish the cause of the fire.
Fire at Plymouth industrial estate
An investigation is underway after a large fire broke out at the Lee Mill Industrial Estate near Plymouth on the afternoon of 27th July.
A 200 metre cordon was set up around the area due to highly explosive gas cylinders being stored on the site.
Eight fire crews attended the fire and spent several hours battling the blaze.
No casualties were reported in the fire and although an investigation will be carried out, the fire is not thought to have been started deliberately.
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.
Our team of experienced and qualified Fire Risk Assessors will perform a full Fire Risk Assessment of your premises, and provide you with a comprehensive document detailing the risks found and recommendations to minimise the risks.
Our Fire Risk Assessment is divided into nine separate areas:
- Fire safety administration
- Fire fighting facilities
- Identifying fire hazards
- Fire routine and test procedure
- Means of escape
- Review procedures
- Staff/people at risk
- Arson prevention check list
- Fire warning facilities
When you have a Fire Risk Assessment, you must review this to ensure that everything is still in order. For example, you have a reshuffle of departments and your trained Fire Wardens are all moved onto the same floor of the building so more are required to cover the other floors, or you may have an extension built on your building. You may not even have had any changes in personnel or building, but it is essential that you review the Fire Risk Assessment anyway! We provide a service to review your Fire Risk Assessments for you, whether completed by ourselves or not.
Family run printing company destroyed in fire
A family owned printing firm in Liverpool has been destroyed in a large fire.
The fire ripped through S Barber and Co. Ltd in the early hours of 30th July. Several other units were also damaged in the fire.
Firefighters from eight crews spent around four hours tackling the flames using water from the nearby Leeds-Liverpool canal..
Demolition crews are expected to visit the site and it is thought that at least two of the properties will have to be demolished as they were so badly damaged.
Nigel Barber, who is joint owner of the 98-year-old business with his brother Paul. Nigel said: “I’m in shock. I still haven’t come to terms with it. It’s just a black hole. Bits of the roof are hanging down. Everything’s full of water.”
The business had recently moved to the site in order to accommodate new machinery. Nigel added: “We were happy. everything was going along well. One minute everything’s all right and the next minute, that’s it.”
There were no casualties reported in the incident and it is not currently being treated as suspicious.