The most likely cause of the fire on the Cutty Sark last year was the failure of an industrial vacuum cleaner that had inadvertently been left switched on 48 hours before the fire started, an investigation had concluded.
The findings were revealed yesterday at a press conference held at New Scotland Yard and mark the end of the investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service, London Fire Brigade and Forensic Science Services, working with electrical examination experts Dr Burgoyne’s & Partners LLP.
Physical evidence and CCTV footage of the fire on 21 May show that it probably started towards the stern of the ship on the lower deck, after the failure of a motor inside the industrial vacuum cleaner that was being used to remove waste from the ship as part of a renovation programme. Investigations suggest that the equipment had been left running throughout the weekend before the fire broke out the following Monday.
On the basis of witness evidence, the investigation team considered it unlikely that the fire was caused by hot work that was being carried out as part of the renovation, or by carelessly discarded smokers’ materials. The report also says there was no evidence that the ship was subjected to an arson attack and concludes that the fire was started accidentally.
