The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 makes it a requirement to have a Fire Risk Assessment carried out in Places of Public Entertainment & Assembly. Failure to do so can mean fines of up to £20,000 and six months imprisonment.

24 homeless as fire destroys The George Bar and flats in Paisley

Firefighters were called to the blaze in Paisley in the early hours of Sunday

An investigation has been launched into a major blaze that destroyed a pub and flats in Paisley on Sunday, leaving 24 people homeless.

Firefighters were called to The George bar in Causeyside Street at about 03:30, after an "extensive" fire broke out in the building, including flats.

At the height of the fire, seven appliances from Paisley, Renfrew and Polmadie were in attendance.

There were no reports of injuries in the incident.

But the flats above are said to have been seriously damaged.

Emergency crews were at the scene of the fire well into Sunday

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service teams wearing breathing apparatus fought the blaze inside the building, while crews tackled the fire from the outside using large main water jets.

Area Commander George McGrandles praised the firefighters, saying their actions prevented the fire from spreading and damaging adjoining properties.

Residents have been evacuated and Renfrewshire Council said the majority have been found temporary accommodation, with two families making their own arrangements.

On its website, the local authority said: "A fire has seriously damaged flats above The George public house on the corner of Causeyside Street and George Street leaving 24 people homeless and leading to road closures in the area.

"Building standards officers from the council and surveyors from the owner's insurance company will be assessing the damage and will decide if the building needs to be demolished."

Mark Macmillan, leader of the council, said: "We are all thankful that everyone is safe and well following this major blaze.

"The council has an important role in incidents like this, from providing accommodation for people who have lost their homes to organising road closures and ensuring damaged buildings are made safe.

"Council employees have been working through the night, alongside their colleagues from the 'blue light' services, to ensure that everyone affected by the fire has somewhere to stay and that life in Paisley town centre can get back to normal as quickly as possible.

"Housing officers will offer support, advice and assistance to those who have lost their homes, helping with their medium to longer term housing needs.

"Building standards will keep working to ensure the area is safe for the public, our town centre team will liaise with local businesses affected by the blaze and our roads service will do all it can to minimise disruption to traffic."

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 makes it a requirement to have a Fire Risk Assessment carried out in Places of  Public Entertainment & Assembly. Failure to do so can mean fnes of up to £20,000 and six months imprisonment.

Nobody hurt in fire at Beatles-themed hotel in Liverpool

Can you read this without singing Penny Lane?

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Firefighters were called to tackle a fire at a hotel in Liverpool yesterday (February 14th), with a fault with the air conditioning unit thought to be to blame.

The Beatles-themed Hard Day's Night hotel in North John Street - a part of the city's centre - was evacuated at around 13:19 GMT after reports of a fire in the penthouse suite.

Crews from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were quickly on the scene to tackle the conflagration, using breathing apparatus with two main hoses. Just under six hours later, fire safety officers were dealing with hot spots after the blaze was brought under control.

Nobody was hurt in the incident after an evacuation of the premises quickly took place, while the deployment of eight fire appliances meant there were enough fire fighters on the scene.

While the blaze occurred on the fifth floor, crews undertook an assessment of the fourth storey to ensure the fire had not spread.

Area manager of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Dave Mottram, said: "The fire was initially difficult to get to due to its location but firefighters worked fast to limit the damage.
"The fire was initially located in an area under renovation on the fifth floor. The fire was within voids including roof spaces and walls and by 19.10 GMT we were in the process of damping down and ensuring there was no further fire spread."

The hotel's owner, Mike Dewey, told Click Liverpool that everyone was safely out of the building within ten minutes, but the cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed.

He added that the building would be closed for 24 hours to allow investigations to take place, along with a thorough assessment on the safety of all floors.

All commercial properties and workplaces, including hotels, in Scotland must have a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005.

If the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Duty Holder can face an unlimited fine and imprisonment.

Scottish Minister gets glimpse of future housing at BRE Scotland's Innovation Park

Scottish Housing and Welfare Minister, Margaret Burgess MSP took a visit to the BRE Scotland Innovation Park earlier today. The Park is a mini-community of demonstration homes and buildings that will be used to shape future housing in Scotland. It is based at Ravenscraig, the former steelworks site in Lanarkshire, which is currently undergoing significant regeneration.

Accompanied by Rufus Logan, Director of BRE Scotland (second left), the Minister was shown the projects on the Park to date:

• the super energy efficient timber frame visitor centre, designed to achieve BREEAM outstanding which was completed last September
• the Applegreen home - an offsite manufactured volumetric steel frame system house with integrated renewables currently under construction on the site

With responsibility for anti-poverty measures and welfare as well as homes and communities the Minister heard how the houses on the Park will be designed to create warm energy efficient environments for a fraction of the current running costs of Scotland’s existing housing stock.
Rufus Logan said “The Park is all about innovation and applying this to the challenges we face as a society, not only around reducing carbon emissions but also creating a better quality of life for our people. Scotland has the highest proportion of households in fuel poverty in the UK – almost one in four homes are spending more than 10% of their total income on energy to heat and run their homes. We need to address this in the construction and refurbishment of our new and existing homes and the Park is the catalyst to make this happen.”
The Minister met Michael McGuire, lead partner on the Curriculum House, which will be designed and constructed by pre- apprentice and apprentice students from local Motherwell College’s CADD, Architectural Design and Construction courses.
She also launched the build start on the Resource Efficient House, a Zero Waste Scotland demonstration project of how the latest principles in resource efficiency and waste reduction can be applied in house building.
The Minister said “ What I’ve seen here today is an outstanding example of innovation and partnership working in practice,; delivered on a site that will stimulate greater engagement with both industry and individuals interested in learning about, assessing and demonstrating new technologies and building designs. I look forward to visiting again.”
The next phase of buildings to be constructed on the Park include:

• The Homegrown Timber House which will showcase the use of innovative Scottish timber products to deliver an affordable, low embodied energy, healthy and thermally efficient dwelling
• The BRE Refurbished House – the recreation of a full-scale ‘four-in-a-block’ – a typical Scottish dwelling with each of the four compartments refurbished using different approaches, materials and technologies, which will be monitored over time to provide real performance data.

Over the next two years a total of ten full scale homes and buildings will be constructed on the Park. They will demonstrate indigenous designs, materials, techniques and technologies that will address the major challenges faced by the local and global built environment.

For more information, please contact Linda McKeown at BRE on 01923 664569, mobile 0777 2228768, email mckeownl@bre.co.uk

From BRE

Council orders residents to remove communal area items due to fire risk

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20 Feb 2013

A council has ruled that personal items left in a sheltered housing block communal area must be removed because of the fire risk they pose.

Recent inspections at Wheatfield Court in Luton showed that the items, which include ornaments, pictures and cushions, could obstruct access to the building if firefighters were required.

A spokesman for the local council said that the corridors were "cluttered" and caused a "potentially unsafe environment for both tenants and visitors".

However, residents have reacted by launching a petition against what it calls a "petty" decision from the local authority.

Graham Wright, representing residents of Wheatfield Court, all of whom have signed the petition, told Luton Today that these items make the place "more homely".

"Having them here is not hurting anyone, it just brightens the place up," he explained. "The chairs are over 25 years old. Putting a cushion on them makes them nicer to sit on. How is it harming anyone?”

In response, a council spokesman told the news provider that while the local authority appreciates the residents making the area more homely, items can still pose a fire risk.

"Items where we have given permission to be stored in the communal areas and have been there for several years will be allowed to remain," he explained.

"The safety of our residents is paramount, therefore we must ensure that corridors in particular must be kept as clear as possible as they act as the main thoroughfare in the event of a fire. All furniture within the sheltered housing scheme must also conform to strict fire regulations."

Residents have been told that items must be removed or the items will be taken away.

Petition against fire service privatisation in England & Wales nears 10,000 signatures

18 Feb 2013

A new internet campaign has been launched to oppose government plans to privatise the 46 fire and rescue services in England.

Close to 10,000 signatures have already been received from members of the general public who oppose the idea on campaign website 38 Degrees, with hundreds more being added every day.

It comes after a letter from local government minister, Brandon Lewis, obtained by the Mirror, said that local fire and rescue authorities could look into contracting out their full range of services to "a suitable provider".

Mr Lewis said that while the proposals are "not without controversy", it would help remove barriers and increase choices available to them as many face budget cuts.

However, critics have slammed the idea, saying that privatisation would have a detrimental effect on the life-saving services fire-fighters provide.

The Fire Brigades' Union, London, said: "It looks like the government is planning to privatise our fire service. They're trying to sneak in new laws that 'would enable fire and rescue authorities in England to contract out their full range of services to a suitable provider'.
"Every day, fire-fighters put their lives in danger to keep us safe. Within minutes of an emergency, we can expect fire crews to be there to save lives and protect our property. Privatising this vital service might seem crazy. But that's exactly what the government is trying to quietly slip through a hush-hush parliamentary committee."

It added that people "need to move fast to show the government" people want a fire service that prioritises peoples' lives and profit.

The petition, available here, had 9,216 signatures as of 10.30 GMT on February 18th, with many leaving comments as well.

It comes after Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, revealed that he would be taking legal action against city's fire authority after it refused to consult on budget cuts.

Proposals include 12 fire station closures in the capital, more than 500 redundancies and £45 million in savings.

New guide on choosing fire risk assessors

The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council has published new guidance on selecting a competent fire risk assessor.

Aimed at employers and other ‘duty holders’ under UK fire legislation, the guide sets out the steps that should be taken if a specialist fire risk assessor is required to undertake a fire risk assessment.
While the guide says that duty holders may themselves be able to carry out a fire risk assessment in small or low risk premises, if a specialist is needed duty holders should make ‘reasonable checks’ to ensure that the specialist is competent. This includes checking that those providing the service have independent registration with, or certification from, a professional or certification body and that they meet the competency criteria established by the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council.

The guide goes on to list some steps to help verify the competence and suitability of a prospective fire risk assessor and highlights the importance of adequate management systems being in place in any company for whom the fire risk assessor works, even if the fire risk assessor is self-employed.
‘The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council recommends the use of fire risk assessment companies, including sole traders, which are third party certificated to appropriate schemes operated by certification bodies which have been UKAS accredited to certificate against such schemes,’ the guide says.
It gives an overview of the different types of certification and professional registration schemes, and provides a matrix of schemes that are currently available.

Colin Todd, managing director of fire safety consultants CS Todd & Associates and a member of the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council told FRM:
‘This is excellent news for our profession. While government policy remains that there is unlikely ever to be a legal requirement for duty holders to use the services of registered or certificated persons to carry out their fire risk assessments, the Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council has led the way in signposting duty holders to sources of competent persons and companies.

‘This is consistent with government advice on third party certification which, in effect, states that the use of companies that are third party certificated by a UKAS-accredited certification body for their fire protection products and services provides reassurance to duty holders and may constitute a defence of due diligence, in the event that fire precautions are found to be deficient.’
To download the guide click here 

From FRM Journal.

For details of our Services and Courses, please click on the link below:

http://issuu.com/fireisk/docs/brochure_single_pages?mode=window&backgroundColor=%23222222

Fire in Edinburgh Prison

An inmate has been treated for smoke inhalation after a fire in his cell at Saughton prison.

The blaze broke out at around 9.45pm on Monday in the cell.
Prison officers managed to extinguish the flames before Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service arrived.
Firefighters used breathing apparatus to make sure the fire was out before calling an ambulance for the inmate.
The 46-year-old was treated for smoke inhalation. It is not yet known what caused the fire.

From STV

Coroner advocates Sprinklers in Buildings of more than 30 meters in hieght.

Coroner Keith Wiseman said:

"Social housing providers should be encouraged to consider the retro-fitting of sprinklers in all existing high-rise buildings in excess of 30m in height, particularly those identified by fire and rescue services as having complex designs that make fire-fighting more hazardous and/or difficult."

The statement followed the inquest into two Southampton firemen who died fighting a fire at Shirley Towers in 2010 which took the lives of Firefighters Jim Shears, of Poole, and Alan Bannon, of Southampton.
An inquest in July 2012 into the two deaths returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
A copy of the Coroner's Letter under Rule 43 can be viewed via the link below.
 

 http://www.bafsa.org.uk/pdfs/snews/00001256.pdf

Three people in hospital after fire breaks out at Glasgow flat

                       

 

Firefighters: The blaze broke out in the flat in Paisley Road West.

Three people have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a flat in Glasgow’s south side.
The blaze occurred at the first floor property in the Cessnock end of Paisley Road West.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said it received a 999 call about the fire at around 9.15am on Wednesday.
Four appliances were called out to tackle the fire, which was near the Cessnock Underground stop on the street.
A fire service spokesman said a man sustained moderate burns to his arms and hands in the blaze, while another man and a woman rescued from the building suffered from mild smoke inhalation.
The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed the three casualties Southern General Hospital for treatment following the blaze.
Another woman who suffered mild smoke inhalation was treated at the scene but did not require to go to hospital.
The blaze was extinguished by around 10.50am while the fire service confirmed there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding it.

From STV

Glasgow City Centre Fire

A huge inferno was tackled by firefighters in Glasgow city centre on Sunday morning (February 3rd), taking nearly four hours to get under control.
Indeed, some 100 firefighters and fire safety officers attended the scene in Dixon Street after a former bedding shop went up in flames at 01.50 GMT.
Crews from Calton, Polmadie and Maryhill Community Fire Stations were the first on the scene and quickly found access to the inside of the building to help tackle the top-floor fire.
However, because of the rapid spread of the blaze, additional resources from across Glasgow and Lanarkshire were called to the three-storey building.
According to Strathclyde Fire and Rescue (SFR), the task of containing the conflagration was made trickier by the high winds hitting the city in the early hours of Sunday morning. The job was made even more difficult after the roof collapsed at around 04.40 GMT - nearly three hours after the blaze started.
Just over half-an-hour later, the fire was contained - with the help of aerial rescue pumps - before it was later put out. Fire crews used thermal imaging devices to ensure no pockets of fire remained in the building.
A statement released by the local fire and rescue authority said: "Crews remained all day Sunday to make the scene safe bringing the incident to its conclusion.
"The cause of the blaze will now be subject to a full investigation carried out by SFR's Incident Research and Investigation section."
Fire crews also worked hard to ensure neighbouring buildings were not destroyed in the blaze, SFR said, while nobody was hurt in the incident.
It's not the first serious fire to have affected the city in recent months. In December, Glasgow firefighters were called in to tackle a blaze in the basement of a tower block.
Officers were forced to use breathing apparatus to help stop the blaze, which was thought to have been started because of an electrical problem, from spreading to other floors.

Frm @fireisndustry