Fire brigade maps city risk to improve emergency response
To respond better in emergencies a fire brigade in Amsterdam has mapped the risks in the city by combining 600,000 objects such as buildings, railways and roads with possible incident types such as fires and traffic accidents.
This allows them to build a risk profile of particular streets and understand the types of incident that are most common in particular locations and helps them to benchmark its performance against national standards.
The team has also used the tool to reduce the chance of fire in certain areas. By analysing the data they found that 20 percent of all fires in the whole district were caused by unsafe cooking.
For more please visit the full article at http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-03/19/amsterdam-fire-brigades
Faulty BEKO appliance blamed for fire death
It is believed that a fire which killed a 36 year old man in Wealdstone last November was caused by a faulty fridge freezer.
Mr Santosh Benjamin-Muthiah died from a lack of oxygen to the brain after inhaling fumes in the blaze at his home in Grant Road on 11th November.
It is now believed the cause of the blaze was a model of Beko fridge freezer that has been recalled for being faulty. Beko had been informed by fire chiefs in June 2010 about the safety issue but the firm admitted that it did not inform retailers of the danger until eight months later.
Steve Turek from London Fire Brigade, said after the product recall that he was worried about fires involving this sort of fridge freezer: “They develop rapidly and produce an enormous amount of toxic smoke. Expert fire investigators have had to work for a long time to confidently establish these faulty fridge freezers as the cause of a number of serious fires. Having established this link, we have worked closely with BEKO to ensure the public is kept safe.”
A statement on the Beko website reads: “We deeply regret any incident involving any Beko product and we are working with all relevant organisations to rectify an identified problem with some of our fridge freezers. Quality, customer safety and satisfaction is paramount to Beko. All its products are independently tested before being placed on the market and meet all UK and European safety standards. The number of incidents to which these products have been potentially linked is extremely small, nevertheless, as a responsible manufacturer, we have decided to proactively contact the owners of these fridge freezers to make a free in-home modification to remove any potential risk with this component.”
Fire at Billingham chemical plant
10 fire crews were called to a huge fire at a chemical plant in Billingham last Thursday.
The fire at the GrowHow plant, which employs more than 600 people, started at around 5.40pm on 2nd June and was quickly dealt with by the on site emergency services and Cleveland Fire Brigade.
Gerard Suggitt from Stranton Fire Station said: “All three of our appliances went out to the fire. We got the call at around 5.40pm, but didn’t leave the site until 8pm. We left when the fire had completely extinguished and luckily no-one was injured.”
A spokesperson for GrowHow said: “Safety is out top priority and the incident was managed professionally and safely by its employees and the emergency services. The company has begun an investigation into the cause of the fire.”
Woodland destroyed in forest fire
A huge fire broke out at Hartlebury Common on 25th May damaging about 2000 square metres of woodland.
Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service were alerted at about 5.50pm after receiving over 50 calls from the public.
The incident was tackled by 2 fire engines from Kidderminster and additional fire engines from Stourport, Droitwich, Worcester and Bromsgrove later joined the scene.
Chris George-Burnell from the fire service said: “With the gusty wind conditions and flames up to 35 metres high at times, crews had to work really hard to surround this fire and bring it under control.”
The cause of the fire is not known. SC George-Burnell urged members of the public to ensure that in periods of dry weather they be extra vigilant and to ensure that cigarettes and matches are disposed of properly.
M1 motorway fire – arson suspected
A fire investigation has revealed that the M1 scrapyard fire was arson.
The fire started at around 4.15pm on Friday 15th April, in Ellesmere Avenue and resulted in an 11km stretch of the M1 being closed for days.
A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade has confirmed that their findings have now ‘been handed to the Met for investigation’.
Nobody was injured in the fire but substantial damage was caused and motorists still face severe motorway disruption well into the Easter Weekend.
The Highways Agency has reported that construction work is underway but urges motorists to consider alternative routes to avoid ‘continued congestion’.
Ministers have requested an audit of railways and roads which are at risk of industrial accidents and an investigation will also be carried out into the storage of gas canisters at Apex Metals.