Arson suspected in Worcester fire
A fire which tore through a block of flats at around 11pm on Monday is thought to be arson.
Six fire engines, more than fifty firefighters and two aerial ladder platforms tackled the blaze in Worcester.
Det Sgt Phil Colley said: “We are treating the fire as suspicious at this time and are continuing to work closely with the fire brigade as investigations continue. Anyone with information should contact police immediately.”
The building is now unsafe to enter and most of the roof has collapsed. Nearby buildings were also damaged by the fire. Structural engineers will be carrying out a full inspection to assess the damage.
No one was injured in the fire.
Arson suspected in Keighley store blaze
A fire which tore through Poundstretcher in Keighley last week is thought to be arson.
Dozens of firefighters, 8 fire engines and a mobile command unit attended the fire at the Cavendish Retail Park at around 6.30pm on 10th May.
Trevor O’Hara, 51, who witnessed the blaze said: “The flames were spectacular at first, really visible even though we were kept a good distance away. The firefighters got things under control very quickly but the smoke was still extremely dense. It was unpleasant to breathe in so I decided not to hang around.”
Fire engines tackled the fire from the front and the rear of the building and although no flames were visible from outside the building, the damage to the building was ‘significant’ and will probably have to be demolished.
Philip Smith, town centre manager said: “It’s sad to see a store that has recently had a refit suffer from a fire so badly. It is a Keighley Town Centre Association member and we’ll be looking to support it in any way we can. We look forward to seeing the store getting back into business as soon as possible.”
North Bradford Police have said: “A 16-year-old Keighley youth has been arrested in connection with the incident and bailed pending further inquiries. Investigations into the blaze, which is being treated as suspicious, are ongoing with the fire service.”
Fire at London scrapyard shuts M1
A fire which broke out at a scrapyard close to the M1 has caused over 36 hours of chaos.
Over 40 firefighters and 8 fire engines attended the blaze which started at a scrapyard in Mill Hill, London at around 4am on Thursday 14th April. The fire resulted in the closure of a large section of the M1 in London and cancellations and delays to Thameslink, Southeastern and East Midlands trains.
A spokesperson for the London fire brigade said: “Firefighters from Wembley, Harrow and surrounding fire stations are at the scene. It is too soon to say what caused the blaze but the cause will be under investigation.”
Firefighters spent hours battling the flames and cooling the gas cylinders to avoid explosions. Some of the cylinders contained acetylene which is highly flammable and unstable. Firefighters will remain at the scene to monitor the situation.
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”.