9 people escape Bristol house fire
Fire crews in Bristol were called to a house fire on Lodge Hill in Cossham at around 7am on 17th November.
A woman and two girls were rescued by firefighters from the roof of the property and six others managed to escape from the house before firefighters arrived.
Four ambulances attended the incident and took a baby, four children, two teenagers and two adults to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
A spokesman for the Avon Fire and Rescue Service said: “At 6.42am crews from Speedwell and Kingswood attended a house fire at Lodge Hill in Cossham. The service was advised that persons were reported missing in the property and on arrival crews found a developed fire on the ground and first floor of a private house with a number of people requiring rescue. In total there were nine people believed to be in the property, most of whom had already escaped. The service did rescue an adult and two children from the flat roof of the property where we believed they had escaped to. Unfortunately in addition, there was a family dog lost in the fire.”
A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said a boy, aged under five-years-old, was the most seriously injured and is being treated for burns.
The others, which includes a baby under 12-months-old, a boy under five, two girls under 10, two teenagers, a woman aged in her 20’s and a man in his 40’s, were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure but one young boy required specialist care in the burns unit of the hospital.
An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out by the fire service and police teams.
Two huge fires broke out in St Albans within 12 hours of each other
Around 10,000 tonnes of recycled wood caught fire at around midnight on Saturday, 10th November and just 12 hours later, wooden pallets containing thousands of plastic trays were alight at Glinwell nursery in Hatfield Road.
Several roads around the recycling centre were closed off and many residents were also without water and electricity.
A spokesman for Affinity Water said: “During peak water demand times, our customers in the area may have no water available to them; however the fire and rescue services are continuing to work with us to reduce their water needs during these peak times. We also understand that some customers are experiencing a drop in pressure and we anticipate these fluctuations in pressure to continue for the duration of the fire.”
Fire crews spent around five days tackling the blaze at the Potters Crouch recycling centre. A St Albans firefighter confirmed that there were four pumps on scene trying to extinguish the fire and they expected it to burn for up to seven days.
This is not the first fire at the recycling depot – four years ago a fire at the site burned for over three months.
Local Councillor Tony Swendell said: “The residents of Potters Crouch have had enough. I believe it should be closed down – it’s detrimental to the environment. Some of the problems that it’s caused are traffic gridlock, loss of power to the locality, as well as loss of water pressure and loss of air quality.”
Ten fire engines attended the fire at the Glinwell Nursery which started just after midday and sent clouds of thick black smoke across the area. Residents were advised to keep their windows shut due to burning plastic on site.
An investigation into the cause of both fires will be carried out.
Manchester landlord fined for breaching fire safety regulations
A Greater Manchester landlord has pleaded guilty to a number of fire safety breaches.
A Fire protection team visited Waseem Abbas’s property on Bury Old Road in Salford which was being used as a mobile phone shop, an internet cafe and a television and radio station in December 2011.
The investigation revealed that there were no fire doors in the building and other exits had been blocked by combustible materials. There were also no fire alarms and a risk assessment had not been carried out.
There was no means of escape for the upper floors of the property other than the staircase leading down to the main shop. This meant that people working on the upper floors would have been trapped in the event of a blaze on the ground floor.
Their escape attempts would have been further hampered by the bars that had been fitted on some of the upstairs windows.
He was fined £3,600 and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs.
Peter O’Reilly from Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: “This case shows that ignorance and failing to think about fire safety can be very costly. The starting point for all businesses should be to do a fire risk assessment which will help them identify how to keep the premises safe.”
1000 tonnes of straw on fire in Norfolk village barn
Firefighters were called to a huge blaze at a barn in a West Norfolk village on 9th November.
It is reported that a 1,000-tonne straw stack was on fire when crews arrived on the scene.
The blaze in Oxborough near Swaffham and Downham Market was reported at 10pm. Fire crews from Swaffham and Methwold attended the incident.
A spokesperson for the fire service said that the fire did not pose an immediate risk to the public and would be left to burn in a controlled manner with fire crews remaining on site throughout.
She said crews had made contact with the farmer who owned the land and were waiting for him to arrive at the scene.
There were no casualties reported in the incident and the cause of the fire is currently unknown.
Fire at Essex timber yard
A fire broke out at a timber yard in Essex on the evening of 6th November. Around 40 residents were forced to evacuate as smoke and flames spread.
The incident happened at around 6pm at Grays Wood Products on Stanley Road in Grays. 50 firefighters from across the region attended the blaze.
A cordon was put in place around the yard while crews battled the intense fire.
Divisional officer Greg Keys said: “Crews faced a real inferno when they arrived at the scene. The corner plot where the shop and yard stood was radiating heat and smoke with the contents of the yard fueled by a whole range of flammable liquids you would expect to find in a timber yard. Fire fighters say the building could collapse at any time. The first priority was to evacuate families as there was every possibility that the blaze was going to spread right through the terrace. While that was going on, the first crews went straight in to the immense heat and smoke to do what they could to save the property and prevent spread. There was nothing that could be done to protect the timber yard and shop but they worked hard to ensure the blaze did not spread beyond the first, adjoining terraced house. The fire is now coming under control and we have ordered a four pump relief with an aerial ladder and expect to be on site through the night. It is unlikely that the families will be able to return to their homes this evening as the houses have no power.”
Crews remained on the scene for almost 12 hours ensuring the flames were properly extinguished. There were no casualties reported in the incident. It was reported that arson was initially suspected but this was later denied.
Divisional Officer, Vernon Kendall said: “The site was completely secure and there was no sign of a break in. On that basis police scenes of crime were not needed at the site.”