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”.
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.
The effectiveness of fire evacuation training
Many people would view the evacuation of a building as a straightforward procedure. However, the reality of the situation means that there are plenty of things you have to consider. It is certainly not just telling people to leave the building in an orderly fashion.
Another important point to make is that evacuation tests are a legal requirement for any fire safety strategy. This will be part of a fire risk assessment, which is key to ensuring the safety of your employees and any visitors to the premises.
Fire wardens should be trained in carrying out these evacuations according to an efficient evacuation plan. On the fire evacuation training course there will be scenarios to implement which makes it all the more real and allow your fire warden to learn how to approach any problems that could occur, as well as the dangers to keep an eye out for.
Your organisation should already be carrying out evacuation drills on a regular basis, but it is necessary to do this in the right way. If you have any disabled people or those with mobility issues on your premises, the course will also help you to ensure they are aided during the evacuation procedure.
The course will be conducted by those with experience in the fire service and so you can rely on them to give your business the most suitable training it requires.