Griffin Fire: Your Central London Fire Safety Specialists

A man this week told how he narrowly escaped being blinded in a firework attack which blew out the letterbox of his home.

Jimmy Coyle of North Lanarkshire was sitting relaxing at his home in Holytown when the attack took place last Monday night.

A banger pushed through his letterbox exploded, blowing the box right out and sending the flap of the box hurtling into his living room where it hit Councillor Coyle in the face.

Mr Coyle suffered a cut to his head and severe bruising – and admitted he was fortunate his injuries were not much worse.

He said: “I was sitting … Continue Reading

Waterloo, London

Shell International Ltd was fined £300,000 and order to pay £45,000 costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of the RRO.  The London Fire Brigade prosecuted Shell following two small fires in the space of three weeks in January 2007 at the Shell Centre on York Road.  An inspection was then carried out which found escape routes and fire exits blocked, defective fire doors and excessive fire loading.  The fire loading had increased because of refurbishments taking place in the upper floors.  It was also discovered that Shell’s own fire risk assessment had not been reviewed or updated since … Continue Reading

06 Apr 2011

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has become the first in the country to stop sending fire engines to investigate automatic fire alarms (AFA).

Instead, a safety officer will be sent to investigate AFAs in a bid to cut down on the number of unwanted fire signals, which can significantly drain resources, as well as wasting businesses’ time.

If there is a fire, then a crew will be sent to deal with it, but it is hoped that the trial will help in reducing false alarms, as the fire service currently has to deal with approximately 3,500 across the county each … Continue Reading

The manager of a care home near Manchester has been found guilty of multiple fire safety breaches.

Karen Sykes, who operated the Altrincham-based Oldfield Bank Residential Care Home, was been ordered to pay £500 and a victim surcharge of £15 on March 18th in Manchester Crown Court.

According to The Messenger newspaper, the charges were brought against Ms Sykes after a fire at the establishment in May 2010 caused the death of one elderly resident.

The manager was charged under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Earlier this month, the fire alarm engineer for the establishment – retained firefighter Christopher Morris – was … Continue Reading

Fire is the biggest risk to your paper documents, thieves are not interested.

30% of all businesses that have a major fire go out of business within a year. 70% fail within five years.

If you run a business, even a small one from home, UK law requires you must keep critical documents, including invoices and receipts, in a safe place. Most for 6 years, some for 40 years!

Many people, however, when asked for documents will happily just point to a shelf, take you to their garage or simply ruffle through a cabinet to get you the information you need. Put simply, … Continue Reading

Thanks to everyone who took part in our customer survey last month. You spoke, we listened. We have paid very close attention to your input, what you told us we do well and where you would like us to improve.

We achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS*) of 77%, a result we are very proud of (APPLE scored 78%). However we are not complacent and be assured we will always be looking at ways to improve.

We are very proud of our Griffin Fire values (Professional – Friendly – Open – Reliable – Trustworthy) and building these in to all aspects of … Continue Reading

A store described as a “death trap” has been handed a fine of more than £50,000.

The Poundstretcher branch in Castleford’s Carlton Street was penalised £51,500 for seven breaches of the Fire Safety Order 2005, and was also ordered to pay costs of £3,499.

According to Judge Reid, Poundstretcher had not made the premises safe despite having been reprimanded for similar offences at its Halifax and Wakefield stores.

Although the judge noted that the chain had not made a profit since 2005, he said this should not be used as a reason for failure to meet fire safety regulations.

“Poundstretcher had not put their … Continue Reading

Following negotiations between the Brigade and the FBU today the union has agreed to call off the strike action that was planned for the Bonfire Night weekend and agreed to attend a meeting of the Resolution Advisory Panel, an independently-chaired body that can make recommendations to resolve the dispute.

“This is a sensible move,” said London’s fire authority Chairman Brian Coleman: “These strikes have always been unjustified, unnecessary and utterly avoidable.” London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: “My intention has always been to reach an agreement on proposals that will make Londoners safer and firefighters safer. Going to an independently-chaired body … Continue Reading

As you may be aware, The London Fire Brigade are striking as a result of a dispute over working hours.  They have confirmed strike action on Monday 1st November, as well as a possible 47 hour walk-out beginning on Friday 5th November.  The risks that bonfires and fireworks pose make this Bonfire Night strike an even more worrying development.  As seen from their previous strike on Saturday 24rd October, it is likely that there will be very limited or zero cover at these times.

The London Fire Brigade are advising all businesses to ensure that:

• The fire risk assessment for the premises … Continue Reading
  

An Enfield family left combing through ashes for personal possessions after their home was gutted in a fire said the Emergency fire cover organised by the LFB let them down.

Roula and Dougie Spanos of Birkbeck Road said the efforts of the fire fighters employed by the private company were “appalling and ludicrous.” This was a cover arranged by the LFB bosses to cover an eight hour strike by the regular fire fighters in a dispute over shift patterns.

The Spanos’ house caught fire just before 5pm and the couple had to call six times and wait 20 minutes before a … Continue Reading