Latest Fire New & Prosecutions - January 2015
4th February 2015
See all the latest fire news and prosecutions from January 2015.
Marina owner fined for no fire risk assessment
A Rufford boatyard owner was fined over £13,000 after pleading guilty to fire safety breaches following a blaze at St Mary's Marina. The three charges included failure to provide a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, failure to provide suitable general fire precautions and failure to provide an adequate fire evacuation plan.
Warning following laundry fires
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is urging commercial businesses to consider fire risks after a recent outbreak of laundry fires.
Commercial businesses which launder their own towels, linen and clothing are being reminded to ensure they have the correct safeguards in place after fire crews attended three laundry fires across Dorset in the last two weeks.
Key to this is a current Fire Risk Assessment for the premises and ensuring all laundry machines are maintained to a high standard.
Oxford landlord pleads guilty over fire safety issues
A landlord has been fined £4500 for several offences relating to an unlicensed property in a state of disrepair, including a broken fire alarm system, an obstructed means of escape in case of fire, and lack of fire resisting doors.
Councillor Ed Turner, Board Member for Finance, Asset Management and Public Health, said: "It is good that this landlord has been brought to book for running a cockroach-infested property in the way he did. Landlords who fail to meet their responsibilities to their tenants and the wider community should be in no doubt that they will be prosecuted, and the courts are now imposing substantial fines."
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Suspended jail sentence for ignoring fire risk warnings
The director of a wood recycling plant in Northamptonshire has been given a suspended prison sentence after being prosecuted by the Environment Agency for failing to comply with safety regulations and ignoring warnings about fire risks and pollution.
The director admitted failing to minimise the risks of pollution and emissions and was given a six month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was also put under a one-month curfew, to be monitored with an electronic tag, and ordered to pay £1800 in costs to the Environment Agency. The company went into administration in September 2013.
Morecambe landlord pays £22,500 for fire safety breach
A Morecambe landlord has been fined for breaching fire safety regulations at one of his rental properties.
After an inspection by the Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service an enforcement notice was issued for poor fire precautions and faulty emergency lighting. He was subsequently fined £10,500 and ordered to pay £12,000 in costs to the fire service.
