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Buy photos » Clockwise from top left - Darren Yates-Badley, Ashley Stephens, John Averis and Ian Reid (s)
THE DEATHS of four firefighters in the Atherstone tragedy was caused by a “catalogue of organisational systemic failings” by Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, a report has found.
The Fire Brigades Union’s Fatal Accident Investigation report summary, released today, looked into the deaths of Rugby-based Ian Reid and his colleagues John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Badley, who attended a massive fire at the vegetable packing plant on Atherstone Industrial Estate near Stratford in November 2007.
The FBU’s report highlights severe problems with:
- The assessment of risk and planning around it
- The quality of information available to the incident commander* the use of breathing apparatus
- Training, particularly for ‘retained’ or part-time firefighters.
The FBU also said it was working with health and safety specialists from the University of Stirling to review firefighter safety and fatal incidents. The review will report later this year.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary, said: “The deaths of these four brave men were caused by a catalogue of systemic failings at Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.
“The fire killed more firefighters than any other since the 1970s.
“Over the last decade, twice as many firefighters lost their lives in fires as in the previous ten years, and it’s clear that fire and rescue services and government are not learning lessons from these deaths.
“It is appalling that firefighters are in some cases being killed in almost identical circumstances to those in which others have died. This is a terrible failing by those making key strategic decisions within the fire service and by central government.
“We need ministers in all four governments in the UK, as well as chief fire officers, fire authority members and other politicians, to take heed of what happened at Atherstone and work with firefighters to ensure such a tragedy is not repeated.”
Mr Wrack added: “Firefighters and bereaved families have been asking questions for a number of years about why firefighters are being killed at incidents which the service should have planned to deal with.
“We think this highlights deep and systemic failures across the UK fire and rescue service and we are determined to get to the bottom of what is going wrong.”
Around 100 firefighters were mobilised to fight the fire in Atherstone, which took place in a large vegetable packing plant in what was suspected as an arson attack.
In January 2012 Warwickshire County Council entered a guilty plea at a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court for failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees, and was subsequently fined £30,000.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service have yet to comment on the report
A copy of the report can be found at http://bit.ly/FBUwarwickshirereport.
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