FIRE RELATED NEWS ARTICLES

[The Wise Old Owl]

FIRE KILLS MAN IN HIS HOME

Tributes have been paid to a man who died in a house fire in Witham. Police were called to the bungalow in Pattison Close, on Monday, after family members did not receive an answer at Malcolm Griffiths door.

The 64-year-old's body was found in his kitchen.

It is thought he collapsed on Sunday after his clothes caught alight, possibly from a dropped cigarette.

Neighbour Rose Payne, said: "Although he was a very private man, he was very nice."

Another neighbour, Mary King, 66, added: "He always was doing something in his garden and he was very friendly.

"He always said hello. It's tragic, and he wasn't that old.

"We always looked out for him."

Another neighbour, Irene Collins, said that she was very sad to hear the news.

"Most of us are old age pensioners on this road," she said.

Firefighters were called at 1pm on Monday.

Officers said that early indications suggest the fire started with "smoking materials".

They added that there was no working smoke detector in the property.

An investigation has begun into the cause of the fire, but it is not thought to be suspicious.

Station officer at Witham, Terry Hutton, said: "We believe that he was sitting in his living room watching TV on Sunday.

"He then fell asleep and woke to find himself on fire.

"He tried to put himself out in the kitchen where he collapsed."

The exact cause of his death is still under investigation with the coroner.

Mr Hutton added that crews from Witham and fire prevention officers from Braintree will be providing and fitting free fire alarms on the Howbridge estate, where Mr Griffiths lived, on Saturday and Sunday, to all those over 60.

"It's all part of the community care aimed to the most vulnerable, namely the over 60s," he said.

It was the seventh death in Essex in a month caused by a house fire.

An Essex Fire spokesman said: "This month's tragic events prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these are the members of our community that need our help the most."

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[The Wise Old Owl]

FACTORY FIRE

Lydney firefighters were called to a small blaze at teabag manufacturers JR Crompton on Lydney's Church Road Industrial Estate. The fire was reported at 6.15am on Thursday morning and was out by 7am.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

WHITE LIMOUSINE STOLEN, DUMPED AND SET ON FIRE

Car thieves stole a white stretch-limousine from a Mendip village earlier this week and then set fire to it, leaving Shepton Mallet police officers and fire brigade to deal with the aftermath. The car was taken from Chilcompton late on Friday evening and dumped in a field just outside Shepton Mallet, between Maesbury and Gurney Slade.

Police and fire crews were called to the scene just after midnight and by the morning the charred wreckage of the vehicle made quite a sorry sight before it was taken away by recovery services.

Other recent arrests and incidents made by Shepton Mallet officers include:

A man was arrested on suspicion of a sexual assault and has been bailed pending interpreters being available for interview.

A male was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting.

A female was arrested for a drink-driving offence.

Accidents attended by Shepton officers this week included two fail to stop, two non-injury and one injury road traffic collision which led to an arrest for a drink-driving offence.

Shepton Mallet's police officers said that their regulation police uniform wellington boots have been in regular use lately, with rural beat officer PC John Treeby soon to be putting in a request for a regulation cattle-prod complete with emergency siren and blue flashing light.

The officers can be in no doubt that they are working a rural area when they list the farm animal-related incidents they have been involved with.

Apart from a caller reporting a stray pig the size of a small car, Shepton officers also dealt with 14 other incidents involving animals during January - five with cows, five involving sheep, one horse, one dog, one with a wild deer, and a badger.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

SOFA FIRE SAFELY EXTINGUISHED

Firefighters were called to a house fire in Worle after smoking materials set a sofa alight.

Crews were called out to Griffin Road at 5.40am on Friday, after a neighbour heard a smoke alarm go off.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "When we arrived there was a small fire in the house on the sofa, which is believed to have been caused by smoking materials.

"The occupant was out at the time, crews entered in breathing apparatus and removed the part of the sofa that was smouldering.

"There was not much damage, just some smoke damage to the living room area and burning damage to the sofa."

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[The Wise Old Owl]

FIRE HQ MOVE DELAYED

Plans to move Essex's fire HQ from Hutton to a more central part of Essex have been put on the back burner for at least another year. Fire chief David Turner said a commercially sensitive site on the border of Chelmsford and another district is being looked at but not until decisions about regionalisation of the six separate control centres for the East of England have been taken.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

BATTLE TO STOP NEW FIRE STATION

RESIDENTS and councillors turned out in force last Saturday to protest against plans to move Woking’s fire station to Goldsworth Park.

More than 100 people took up banners and placards on the footbridge which links Abercorn Way to Langhams Lane close to the proposed site, which is within the Basingstoke Canal conservation area.
The move is a response to a planning application by Surrey County Council for a two-storey station on 4,2 acres of land between Lockfield Drive and the canal. Residents claim the planned fire station is too close to homes in a densely-populated residential area and are worried about being disturbed by blue lights and sirens.
Fears have also been expressed at the safety implications for traffic along a single carriageway as fire and ambulance crews pull out.
The county council says the existing fire station in Cawsey Way is outdated. Cllr Rosie Sharpley, councillor for Goldsworth East and Woking MP Humfrey Malins are among those who object to the plan.
Peter Winter, vice chairman of the Goldsworth Park Community Association, said: “I want all the residents to ensure that they are familiar with these proposals.â€￾
An exhibition showing the plans has been set up at the Surrey History Centre in Goldsworth Road and is open until Saturday February 26.
Representatives from the county council and its architectural consultants, Broadway Malyan, will be at the history centre from 10am to 3.30pm on Saturday to discuss the plans.
The plans are expected to come before a meeting of Woking Borough Council’s planning committee on Tuesday March 8 and could be decided by the county council’s planning committee as early as Wednesday March 30.
Residents who wish to make any representations can write to Mr R A Hargreaves, Surrey County Council’s head of planning (ref WO05/Index76/cn), Sustainable Development at County Hall, Kingston-upon- Thames, Surrey, KT1 2DY, before Monday February 14.
Alternatively, call Deborah Thomas at the borough council on 01483 743726 or email Deborah.Thomas@woking.gov.uk before February 14.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Forty firefighters tackle pub blaze

Forty firefighters tackled a blaze in a historic Suffolk pub yesterday.

The Bull, in Newmarket, suffered extensive damage in the fire, which started yesterday morning.

There were several people in the pub at the time, who all escaped safely.

Meanwhile, Suffolk County Council says concern over a planned shedding of specialist fire crews is unfounded, even though the same crews were needed to tackle the Newmarket fire.

Fears have been raised that the council's proposals to halve the number of staff dedicated to manning the turntable ladder based at Bury St Edmunds could impact the effectiveness of the service.

But yesterday, a council spokesman said only crewing arrangements would be affected, not when the turntable ladder was used.

The blaze at The Bull broke out at around 9.10am, and six appliances from Suffolk and Cambridge were called to the scene.

Most of the flames were out by 10.30am, although firefighters stayed on scene for several hours afterwards.

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Floral tributes where firefighters died in blaze

TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to two firefighters who died battling in vain to rescue a woman from the 14th floor of a blazing block of flats.

Michael Millar, 26, from Stevenage and Jeff Wornham, 28, from Royston, both in Hertfordshire, were killed after they returned to the burning building in search of the trapped resident.

They had already saved one man, who is in a critical condition in hospital, from the heart of the fire in the 17-storey building in Silam Road, Stevenage.

The body of a third victim was found in the burnt-out flat after the blaze hit two floors at around 3am yesterday causing 72 people to be led to safety.

Naming the firefighters who died, a Hertfordshire police spokeswoman said: "The two families of the men are understandably traumatised and distraught."

Bouquets were placed outside the gates of the block, called Harrow Court, in tribute to those who died.

Andy Gilchrist, the Fire Brigades Union leader, said: "Such tragedies are felt very deeply across the entire UK fire service. For those who work in it, the fire service is like a family.

"It sounds old fashioned, but we all hurt at times like this."

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[The Wise Old Owl]

Fire Brigades Union Respond to Plans to cut Fire Cover in North Yorkshire

The North Yorkshire FBU Brigade Committee has submitted its response to North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority's Integrated Risk Management Plan. See link.

The FBU's IRMP Committee in North Yorkshire recognises the true potential of effective integrated risk management planning however, this potential will only be realised where the mix of prevention, detection and emergency intervention is optimised at both brigade and station levels.

Attempts to reduce annual revenue budget costs through such proposals stand at odds with a truly risk-based approach to fire & rescue service activities. Firefighters and Emergency Fire Controls Operators are extremely concerned that a simple cost-cutting approach is being advocated by the Authority and its professional advisors in the Year 2 IRMP.

Fire Brigades Union Executive Council Member Bob Blackburn said "the simple message to the people of North Yorkshire and their elected representatives on the Fire Authority is, you are in danger of moving resources from front line firefighting to community based prevention which will expose not only the public to greater risk from fire and other emergencies but put firefighters at greater risk when responding to the public"

Steve Timmins, North Yorkshire Brigade Chair said "FBU members in North Yorkshire support the principle of educating the public about the risk from fire but unfortunately we all know there still needs to be an effective emergency response capable of dealing with all situations, the IRMP will put the public at greater risk and put further pressure on our members to deliver an effective Fire & Rescue Service."

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[The Wise Old Owl]

35 RESCUED IN DRAMA

NORTH Wales chief fire officer has praised the 40 firefighters who battled a blaze at a Conwy nursing home.





Firefighters from Colwyn Bay, Abergele, Conwy, and Llandudno, and several ambulance crews were involved in the incident when a fire broke out in the basement of Rhos Priory nursing home, in Rhos on Sea, at around 12.30am on January 26.
Firefighters spent nearly four hours at the home in Abbey Road tackling the fire in the laundry room.
And as the smoke began to spread upwards through the three storey building, the firemen carried the 35 residents aged 60 to 101, to safety.
Paramedics were also on hand and worked closely with the fire and rescue service to check all the residents and staff while four residents were taken to hospital suffering from ´minor injuries´.
Chief fire officer Simon Smith said the conditions for the firefighters were very difficult and they worked ´remarkably´.
He said: "It was a very intense fire in the basement and although it didn´t spread over a wide area, the fire, like all fires in basements, has nowhere to ventilate through so the heat builds up really quickly and there is always a lot of smoke."
Officer Smith added: "Not only did we have the issue of the fire to deal with, we then had 35 elderly residents to carry out of the building. I would like to pay tribute to the work of the firefighters who did a fantastic job, and also the ambulance crews and staff at the home, who did a good job reassuring everyone and keeping them calm.
"Now the fire investigation team are working on the cause of the fire but because there was so much damage, it will not be easy to pinpoint."
Owner Dylan Southern said that all the residents have now returned to the home and are glad to be back.
He said: "We don´t know how the fire started because it is still under investigation. But the night staff discovered the fire and they quickly put our fire procedure into progress, and they did it absolutely to the letter. They were then immediately supported by the emergency services.
"Luckily the damage is confined to the laundry room because of the sealed fire doors, it didn´t spread. But we have had industrial cleaners in the laundry room and it has been gutted so will be back up and running in around 10 days."
Mr Southern added that he was ´overwhelmed´ at the way the whole community pulled together and offered to help clear the mess.
He said: "Talk about team work! The staff we had on that night tripled and they all rallied round to help and call relatives to let them know things were OK. The evacuation procedure was very controlled so the residents´ dignity, welfare and healthcare were wholly protected throughout.
"A huge thanks must go to all staff who helped out from the emergency services, staff at the home and relatives of the residents, who have all pulled together to help at this difficult time. Thankfully no one was injured and some of the residents are even asking if they can keep the fireman who carried them out!"
Clwyd West AM, Alun Pugh said the fire and rescue service carried out the evacuation with ´great professionalism´.
He added: "Evacuating a significant number of people with limited mobility in an emergency is very difficult and they did a great job."



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