Fire Risk Assessments Limited
020 8763 6776
Our aim is to deliver a cost effective yet high quality service. We endeavour to draw upon our experience and knowledge to guide and advise practical and professional solutions to solve our client's fire safety problems.
Our services cover the following regions
Birmingham | London | Liverpool | Manchester | Derby | Nottingham | Leicester | Coventry | Sheffield | Leeds | Bristol | Northampton | Chester | Southampton | Wolverhampton | Redditch | Worcester | Newcastle | Greater London | Wales | Cardiff | Bath | Norwich | Norfolk | Kent | Middlesex | Brighton & Hove | Portsmouth | Bournemouth | Devon | Cornwall | Weston Super Mare | Dorset | York | Sunderland | Rugby | Peterborough | Preston | Ipswich | Woking | Darlington | Telford | Shrewsbury | Exeter | Essex | Hull | Grimsby | Middlesborough | Cheshire | Stoke | Swansea | Warwickshire |
Hotel gets fire service inspection after complaint from consultant -
A hotel has been publicly criticised for poor fire safety after a fire safety consultant stayed there over the Christmas period.
The complaints by Alan Cox, a former fire safety officer in the public and private sector, resulted in an inspection of the Buckatree Hall Hotel in The Wrekin, near Telford, by officers from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service on new year’s eve. In a detailed letter to Paul Raymond, the chief fire officer of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, Mr Cox alleged a catalogue of poor fire safety management. These included the obstruction of emergency escape routes, a locked fire exit door, a compressed gas cylinder stored in a linen cupboard without a fire door, a fire door wedged open, and poorly fitting fire doors. He had written to the chief fire officer because the problems remained unresolved after he had raised them with the hotel’s duty manager during his stay. Mr Cox told the Telford Journal that it was his “second nature” to notice these things after spending four decades in firefighting and fire safety.
“Whenever I stay somewhere I look to find the quickest way out. In the Champagne
Suite where we were, the main entrance was deadlocked and another was blocked, and
there was only one other door you could have gone through. But in an emergency you
just head for the nearest exit...If we had had a fire when I was there it would have
been a catastrophe waiting to happen because people wouldn’t have been able to get
out.” John Das-
“Following that, our operational staff completed a visit on new year’s eve which
is in accordance with the many hotel inspections the service carries out,” he told
the Telford Journal. “Following these visits the fire safety officer has sent a written
report to the general manager highlighting the legal duties required to comply with
the Fire Safety Order to ensure the safety of relevant people.” Mr Das-
The owners of the hotel, Sarac Hotels, said the Buckatree Hall hotel was undergoing a £1m refurbishment after being acquired by the company last September. As part of the refurbishment, an L2 fire detection and alarm system has been installed, as well as a programme to replace or upgrade all fire doors. Speaking to Info4fire, Sarac’s executive general manager, Steve Gibbins, said: “It is extremely difficult when you take over a hotel and there is so much to be done.”
Responding to the allegation of escape routes being blocked, he said one of these is an internal route only which comes into play only when the function suite is partitioned into smaller rooms. As it was laid out over the Christmas period, there were other means of escape from the suite. Similarly, the locked fire exit doors comprise the front entrance only to the suite, and it is reasonable to keep them locked on security grounds. As for the poorly fitting fire doors, Mr Gibbins said that fire doors or door frames were being replaced as part of the refurbishment of the hotel. On the issue of a fire door being wedged open, he said that staff have been reminded that the door should remain closed at all times, even if this might be inconvenient for access, and that the hotel was investigating the fitting of electromagnetic mechanisms on several fire doors. He conceded that the compressed gas cylinder should not have been stored on the premises, and that call point diagrams on the back of bedroom doors needed updating. “We take our fire precaution responsibility very seriously and the safety of our guests is of paramount importance to us, hence the major investment currently being made in the property,” said Mr Gibbins. “Throughout all works being undertaken we are liaising closely with the local fire authorities.”