8 chimney fires spark fire service warning
A series of chimney fires in Devon and Somerset has brought the fire and rescue service to remind people to take extra care when lighting a fire, especially if they have not been used in a while.
The area has seen 8 chimney fires in just 10 days.
Mike Burroughs, Fire investigation officer said: “With the nights still being quite cold people have naturally been warming up their homes by lighting the traditional fire, but without proper maintenance a chimney can become dangerous. To keep the family safe from fire people should take care to have their chimney swept regularly, depending upon what fuel they burn. If the worst should happen, a smoke alarm can give people the extra time needed to escape in a house fire – they need to be tested regularly.”
Smoke alarm awareness campaign
Fire crews in the West Sussex area are running a campaign to raise awareness amongst the deaf and hard of hearing during National Deaf Awareness Week to ensure adequate smoke alarms are installed in homes.
It is thought that around one million adults in the UK have hearing problems which prevent them from hearing regular household smoke alarm.
A spokesperson for the fire service said: “British Standard BS5446-3:2005 specifies smoke alarm kits for deaf and hard of hearing people. Products made to this standard give deaf people assurance of quality smoke alarms, designed to meet their needs.”
Adrian Carter, Safer communities deputy manager, said: “It is vital people who are deaf or hard of hearing ensure they have the right smoke alarm technology in their home to protect them – and that they test them weekly, to make sure they work. A specialist alarm system provides valuable time to escape from a house fire. Without it, lives could be lost.”
Fire service warns of chimney fires as winter approaches
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has issued a warning about chimneys as we approach the winter months.
Open fires and stoves can become a serious fire safety hazard if the correct precautions are not followed.
West Sussex fire service reported that it was called to extinguish more than 214 chimney fires in 2010.
Jackie Boyle, Community fire safety officer, said: “The weather has turned considerably colder and we know people are turning to open fires. The best piece of advice we can give to anyone planning to light a fire is to make sure they get their chimney checked and swept. If you can, inspect your chimney breast, particularly in the roof space. Make sure that it is sound and that the sparks or fumes cannot escape through cracks or broken bricks. Of course, you should also make sure you have a working smoke alarm on each level of your home – early detection saves lives.”
UK fire statistics show that each year around 30,000 houses have chimney fires.
This will mostly be caused by not getting the chimney swept often enough or burning fuel that is inappropriate for the appliance and causing tar to build up in the chimney. More information can be found on how to ensure your chimney is safe on The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps website.
Fire destroys warehouse and classic car collection
A huge fire that broke out on Saturday night has destroyed a warehouse and the owners classic car collection.
Mr Colesellhill who owns Jenda UK Ltd in Irthlingborough, had to stand and watch whilst his business and his American classic cars went up in flames after a fire tore through the warehouse.
50 firefighters tackled the blaze for eight hours, but could not save the building.
Mr Colesellhill: “It has burned half of the building down. It’s devastating. My little world has come to an abrupt end.”
Initial reports show that the fire may have started at the entrance of the building near huge bundles of used clothing stored in cages. My Colesellhill was also storing large amounts of cooking oil which he was selling to be made into bio-diesel.
Chris Kemp from Wellingborough Fire Station said: “There are a lot of rags in there and they have been smouldering and burning for a long time. The oil and the rags are not a good thing together. If the oil contaminated the rags they burn quite freely.”
An investigation will be carried out to determine the exact cause of the fire.
Council admits insufficient Fire Risk Assessments at Lakanal House
On 3rd July 2009, a serious fire broke out on the 9th floor of the Lakanal House flats in Camberwell, London.
150 people were evacuated from the flats and 6 people lost their lives. 18 fire engines attended the blaze.
Southwark Council said that it had spent around £3,500,000 on refurbishment to meet current fire safety standard.
Kim Humphreys of Southwark Council said: “London Fire Brigade provided our housing officers with training which we presumed, erroneously, would meet the requirements. This has not been the case and that’s why we decided that we are going to have outside experts provide us with fire risk assessments for those complex blocks. We have identified that we want to go further than just the basic fire risk assessment and we will be carrying out intrusive inspections of those blocks.”
The Council have now taken further steps to ensure that staff receive sufficient training. An article on the Councils website said: “As we are London’s largest social landlord, with over 50,000 properties and over 300 high rise blocks, we take our responsibilities seriously. The responsibility to do a fire risk assessment was transferred to local councils in 2006. We asked the London Fire Brigade to train our staff to conduct fire risk assessments and they trained 132 Southwark housing officers. Following the training programme a number of follow-up sessions were run to support staff. Blocks over six storeys have had an FRA conducted by a council officer. Where we believe it is necessary we can escalate the fire risk assessment for further technical or intrusive work, carried out by external experts”.