Milton Keynes fatal fire: Man held on suspicion of murder released
Thames Valley Police is continuing its enquiries at the scene of a fatal fire in Milton Keynes on Sunday evening
A 58-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found dead, has been released on bail, police say.
The body of a woman was found by emergency services inside a property in St Leger Court, Great Linford, following a fire.
Thames Valley Police said the death of the woman, whose identity has not been released, “remains unexplained”.
It said post-mortem examination results had been “inconclusive”.
Further tests will now be carried out.
Thatched cottage saved by fire-resistant boarding
A Devonshire cottage has escaped total destruction thanks to fire-resistant boarding under the thatched roof.
More than 100 firefighters attended the fire at the Grade II listed thatch cottage near Drewsteignton.
Senior South Devon fire officer Andy Rowse said that the fire-resistant boarding under the thatch saved the property from being burnt to a shell.
Thirty per cent of the roof was destroyed and the first floor of the house suffered smoke and water damage. Luckily, many of the occupants belongings, including family heirlooms were rescued.
There were no casualties reported although an elderly couple were in the house at the time but managed to escape unhurt.
Along with the many firefighters, police, the Red Cross, emergency support services and the Salvation Army also offered their support.
By midnight fire crews were damping down hot spots and the incident was scaled down to four appliances from Torquay, Exmouth, Chulmleigh and Princetown.
Station commander Rowse said: “The crews did a fantastic job in difficult circumstances. The cottage had a layer of fire-resistant boarding under the thatch. It worked wonders to save the property. So many times firefighters have been to thatch fires where the roof has completely gone and all that’s left is a shell — in this case only 30 per cent of the roof has gone and the damage elsewhere has been minimal. The location was difficult because the house was down a very narrow country lane which gave us challenges getting appliances there and the water hydrant was half a mile away. But everyone worked together very efficiently.”
It is thought that the fire was caused by a defective chimney flue.
Essex businesses reminded over fire alarm response changes
Office and factory owners in Essex have been warned that from today there will be no response by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) to automatic fire alarms.
The decision to reduce the response with regards to business premises has been made in order to lower the risks to the public by concentrating resources on emergency situations.
Fire crews will not respond to certain calls which come from automatic alarms in these business premises, or 999 calls where the person on the phone in telephone kiosks hangs up.
ECFRS hope that they will be able to improve their response service to homes in the area after they revealed that 97 percent of these automatic fire alarm cases are false.
Chief fire officer David Johnson expects resources to be utilised more effectively, placing the fire safety initiative back on commercial and industrial businesses to look after their own alarms.
He said:
“I am sure that home owners and businesses would rather our fire crews and appliances are ready to respond to their real emergencies, rather than them not being available because they are sitting outside factories or offices dealing with yet another of the thousands of false alarms that the service gets on a yearly basis.”
Flyers have been sent out to all businesses in the county explaining to them about the new system and warning them of their responsibility in maintaining their alarm systems more effectively.
Protecting the guests staying at your establishment
Whether you are the owner of a small guest house, with sporadic bookings, or a large bed and breakfast, where people are frequently checking in and out of the premises, you still need to ensure that the fire safety protocols which are in place are adequate for your business.
The best way to ensure that you are keeping up to date with current regulations regarding fire safety and provide for the customers who come to stay with you and rely on your fire procedures, is to send your staff on an appropriate ‘Fire Safety in Guest Houses’ training course.
The challenges faced by businesses in this sector are different to those in other hospitality industries and unique to this situation, so it is necessary to make sure that you are fully prepared for all eventualities, including the threat posed by fire.
As there will always be a varying number of people on the premises at any one time, staying as guests and not employees, you need to put in place an effective system for checking that everyone is accounted for in the event of a fire evacuation.
By sending your employees on such a course, you can make sure that come the end of the training, these new fire wardens will be well-versed in fire safety procedures and how to deal with such an emergency situation.