The message must go out – Fire Kills

We all know that Fire Kills. A different question is “Do we act as if we know that Fire Kills?

Many organisations that I visit do take it seriously, but some still “cut corners” or “take chances” or just don’t do enough. Sometimes, nothing bad happens, but sometimes it does. I recently chaired a workshop meeting looking at changes and lessons from the Grenfell Tower fire. I had the privilege to be in a room of people looking to do their best. Even in this room, standards varied, some were waiting for “further clarification”. Some groups, however, had chosen to lead the way and do things now. I may share some of those case studies in the future.

Sometimes, you get caught – nobody dies, but you go to jail!

In  2018, a Nottingham man was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay nearly £20,000 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to five fire safety offences. MH appeared at Nottingham Crown Court and was sentenced for breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which included failure to comply with an Enforcement Notice at his premises known as A1 Hotel, Hamilton Road, Sherwood.

Other offences included:

• failure to undertake a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment
• failure to provide and maintain adequate escape routes from the hotel
• failure to make appropriate fire safety arrangements, and
• failure to routinely maintain the fire alarm and emergency lighting systems.

Fire Kills

Passing sentence, His Honour Judge MacAdam said that MH has shown a willful disregard for fire safety laws and continued to profit whilst placing hotel residents at risk. The Judge went on to say that an immediate custodial sentence was necessary as “The message must go out – fire kills,” and because Mr Hussain had been given, “so many warnings on so many occasions.”

Group Manager Andy Kelly, Head of Fire Protection for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said:

We welcome and support the comments of Judge MacAdam.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service does and will always seek to work with and support business owners to make sure that they keep their premises, guests and employees safe.

However, staff, members of the public and visitors using premises within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire should feel reassured that they can do so safely.

We hope that sentences such as these confirm to the public that we do take fire safety matters very seriously and that we are committed to creating safer communities for us all to enjoy.

Need help with Fire Safety? Talk to us. If we can help you, we will. If we think you need different help, we will point you in the right direction