Whatever the immediate cause of the fire at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay in which three people died in August 2007, incompetence played an important part in the fire, according to a fire safety consultant.
Following last month’s £80,000 fine for fire safety breaches imposed on the company that owned the hotel, O & C Holdsworth plc, fire safety consultant Alan Cox claims that as well as shortcomings on the part of the hotel management, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service should have picked up on at least some of the defects during visits it made to the hotel prior to the fire.
In an article published exclusively on info4fire.com Mr Cox, who has taken a special interest in the Penhallow Hotel case, also questions some of the issues surrounding the fire service’s response to the fire in the early hours of 18 August 2007.
Mr Cox said: “The fire at the Penhallow Hotel has been described as the worst in a UK hotel for nearly 40 years and tragically resulted in the loss of three lives. Whether accident or arson, I have certainly concluded that incompetence played an important part in this tragic fire.”
Responding in detail to some of the claims made by Mr Cox, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said it wanted to provide clarity and “address some of the misconceptions and questions” that have arisen.
“There is no doubt that this tragedy has raised a significant number of issues for us as an organisation as well as the wider fire community,” the statement concludes.
Read the full article and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service’s response