A landlord was recently fined £6,000 for failing to fit appropriate fire safety devices in a residential block of flats in Radford.

Following a blaze in the ground floor flat last year, an inspection revealed there were no fire precautions in the flats or the common areas and fire inspectors subsequently banned the use of the first and second floors.

The head of Radford fire protection said:

“This fire had the potential to turn into a very serious and fatal accident and could very easily have led to a very serious and fatal incident. I hope this prosecution will also serve as a potential warning to other landlords who may not take fire safety as seriously as they should, and do not comply with the law.”

The landlord pleaded guilty to four fire safety charges at Nottingham Magistrates Court and was fined £1,500 for each offence and ordered to pay £3,772 in costs. The charges related to lack of smoke and fire alarms, self-closing doors and lack of emergency lighting in escape routes.

A research team at Durham University have discovered that the systems behind popular first person shooters such as Halo can be effectively used to teach people about fire safety. After testing a few titles the team opted to use the engine behind Half Life 2 to create a virtual training ground for fire training simulations.

Steve Wharton, Deputy Community Safety Manager at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service commented: "Using virtual models such as this one is an excellent way to raise fire safety awareness and test the effectiveness of a building’s design. Virtual models also provide an effective way to train fire-fighters in a realistic, yet safe, environment."

As part of the study, participants tested the virtual environment. They were told of a fire in the building and asked to find their way out and most people found the simulated environment to be realistic.

The virtual reality model was built based on Durham University’s Computer Science department consisting of three floors with a number of offices, meeting rooms and a reception. The Source engine which underlines the game Half-Life 2 was used to programme it with features such as fire alarm triggers, fire exit signs, and spreading fires.

Dr Shamus Smith of Durham’s computer science department said, "We could take what we’ve done and convert it into a mod, put it online and make it available to download. If you’ve got Half-Life 2 you could run the mod – it would be a free and easy fire training session".

A woman and two young children have been rescued by firefighters from a burning house in Gateshead.

The Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service were called to Milton Square, Mount Pleasant at 7am on Sunday the first of January to discover the house on fire.

A 32-year-old man managed to escape but crews rescued the 33-year-old woman and two children who were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

A spokesman said the fire spread from a wheelie bin containing barbeque ashes.

A dog was also rescued from the fire.

Fire safety training is “crucial” for those working in a kitchen environment as this can reduce the risk of a fire starting, a leading organisation asserts.

This must cover as a minimum the high risk areas such as cleaning flues and ductwork, fighting cooking fires, isolating extractor fans and the safe handling of fats and oils.

It is important to keep adequate records of who has received training and is competent at cleaning as this can help prevent firms from being prosecuted.

Failure to provide an adequate cleaning regime can jeopardise insurance claims in cases of a fire and many insurance policies stipulate this as a condition.

Earlier this month, it was revealed one in three business were breaking the law by failing to conduct a fire risk assessment.

Fire & Rescue once again returns to the NEC Birmingham in May 2009.

This is the UK’s leading event for public, private and industrial services; this event delivers a high calibre audience of key decision-makers and specifiers. Brought to you in partnership with Fire Conferences & Exhibitions Ltd which represents the interests of the Chief Fire Officer Association, the Institution of Fire Engineers and the Fire Protection Association, the event caters to the requirements of core operational and support staff.

Fire & Rescue 2009 is the leading event for the firefighting industry and is the showcase for over 100 exhibiting companies and is therefore a must attend for anyone who is the firefighting industry. Confirmed exhibitors so far include amongst others, The British Safety Council, Fire Protection Association, St Johns Ambulance and Croner.

2009 will also see Fire & Rescue co-locate with International Firex, IFSEC, Safety & Health Expo and The Facilities Show.

A recent fire safety campaign targeting shops and nightclubs in Southend town centre has been heralded a success.

For shops the dangers of a fire were exacerbated due to the increased volumes of stock, storage and rubbish combined with limited bin collections.

Small contraventions of fire safety were dealt with on the spot, but for the more serious cases fire safety offices were involved until the problems were rectified.

Christmas is a time for having fun - however it’s also a time when extra fire hazards are introduced into the home such as fairy lights, candles and decorations. To make your home and workplace as free from the risk of fire as possible, it is best to ensure the following guidelines are met:

1. Choose British Standard fairy lights.
2. Check that your Christmas lights are in good working condition before they are used, replacing blown bulbs as necessary.
3. Keep candles away from decorations and other combustible materials.
4. Never leave a burning candle unattended or use candles to decorate your Christmas tree.
5. Turn your Christmas lights off when you go to bed or go out.
6. Make certain that the Christmas light bulbs do not touch anything that burns easily such as paper, fabric or card.
7. Check the battery on your smoke alarm and if the battery needs replacing – replace it straight away.
8. Never leave cooking unattended – most fires start in the kitchen.
9. Fire risk assessments are not just for the workplace; they can be an extremely helpful guide in indentifying any potential fire hazards at home. Ensure all family members and guests are aware of your emergency evacuation plan.
10. Make sure cigarettes are completely extinguished at all times.
11. If you are using a real Christmas tree keep it well watered to stop it from drying out - shorts in electrical lights start tree fires.
12. Do you have a fire extinguisher at home? If you do, check that it is in perfect working order and replace if necessary.

Have a happy and safe Christmas!

 

There is no doubt that implementing good housekeeping practices in offices and workplaces  can significantly reduce the chances of a fire starting and will help to minimise its spread if a fire does break out.  The following is a list of guidelines to ensure that your work premises has as low a risk of an office fire as possible.

• Ensure that all fire exits and fire escape routes are cleared from obstructions at all times.
• Ensure all air conditioning or conditioning/heating units are regularly serviced and maintained to reduce a build up of dust and dirt and to make sure they are working effectively.
• Check that all electrical appliances are in good working order, that plugs are not overloaded and that unused electrical items are switched off at the end of the working day.
• Have good security systems in place to deter arson attacks.
• Store solvents and all other flammable materials away from sources of heat.
• Fire extinguishers should be tested and maintained at least once a year.
• Ensure that all escape routes are well lit with the appropriate fire safety signs displayed.
• Keep your fire register up to date.
• Do not stack rubbish so high that it could impede the effective operation of sprinklers or fire alarm systems.
• Carry out regular fire alarm tests.
• Keep stationery/archive cupboard doors closed at all times, particularly if they contain large amounts of paper.
• Ensure that all equipment that could provide a source of ignition is left in a safe condition, even when not in use.

Remember that after October 2006 all business must now carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain a fire management plan, Assseco can help businesses to perform their fire risk assessment and produce a suitable fire management plan.

One of the first things taught in a Fire Safety Training course is how a fire starts. Knowing how fires start can considerably increase awareness of potential hazards and also helps in providing an understanding as to how fire extinguishers work.

In order for a fire to start, there needs to be sufficient quantities of three elements in place - fuel, oxygen and heat. Once a fire has started, removal of any of these three elements will cause the fire to extinguish. The term for this is the ‘Fire Triangle’ Recently, this has largely been replaced in the industry by the term Fire Tetrahedron which takes into consideration the ignition or combustion process.

Fuel

Without fuel a fire will stop. Fuel can be removed naturally, where by the fire has consumed all the burnable fuel, or manually, by mechanically or chemically removing the fuel from the fire. Sources of fuel include:

Petrol
Paraffin/kerosene
Alcohol
Oil
Paint
Wood / paper / card
Plastics - most plastics will release toxic smoke during combustion
Metals - some metals are flammable, although usually very high temperatures are required
Dust - airborne particles which can be highly explosive
Materials/clothing/upholstery - present virtually everywhere, these can produce toxic smoke

Oxygen

When there is a lack of oxygen, a fire cannot begin nor can it continue. Oxygen can be removed from a fire by dousing it with foam, spraying it with inert gas, dry chemicals (powder) or by enclosing the fire in an area where all the available oxygen will be used up. Imagine using a candle snuffer on a burning candle, instantly the candles source of oxygen has been removed and therefore the flame will go out.

Heat

Without sufficient heat a fire cannot begin nor can it continue. Heat can be removed by dousing some fires with water; the water turns to steam taking the heat with it. However, it is worth noting that adding water to some types of fire (i.e. combustible metal fires) can have the reverse affect and can cause the fire to spread. That is why it is extremely important to use the correct type of fire extinguisher depending on what type of fire it is you are tackling.

Cardiff’s fire fighters had to skip breakfast this morning as they got an early call reporting a rubbish fire, which in the end turned out to be a building fire at the Royal Mail sorting office. Fire fighters were called to the Royal Mail centre on Penarth Road at 8.50am, after the blaze broke out in a loading bay near the delivery office just outside the Royal Mail depot’s main building.

Four fire engines attended the scene and two water bowsers were used to bring the fire under control. The fire damaged a few Royal Mail vans parked nearby but no one was injured, all 150 workers were evacuated safely and sent home for the day.

Royal Mail said customers in the CF10, CF11 and small parts of CDF23 and CF24 postal areas will have their mail delivered as soon as post men are able to get into the building again. Business mail is thought to be unaffected and collections will take place with an earlier final posting time of between 3:30pm and 4:30pm. General Manager for south and west Wales, Mr Paul Kelly said:

“We’ve had a major fire here at the sorting office this morning. Services will be disrupted this morning. We will not be delivering any post around Cardiff this morning.”

He also said they were in touch with their Swansea office and would be contacting colleagues at Bristol and Gloucester for assistance.