Fire Safety

The complaints by a former fire safety officer in the public and private sector, resulted in an inspection of the hotel near Telford, by officers from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service on new year’s eve.

In a detailed letter to the chief fire officer of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, the consultant 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.

The consultant commented 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 reception 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.”

The head of prevention and protection at Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service, said that as soon as he had heard of these concerns – which were presented in a “comprehensive, well structured complaint with photographic evidence” – a fire safety officer visited the hotel to discuss them with the manager.

“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, 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.”

The owners of the hotel said that the site 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.

The company’s executive general manager commented: “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, he 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.”