In the news today, there’s a story about a fire at Sir Richard Branson’s Caribbean home. The fire was started when lightning hit the Virgin boss’ ‘Great House’ on his private island, Necker. The island is located in the British Virgin Islands, and was hit by a tropical storm last night.

There were approximately 20 guests staying at the property, including Sir Richard’s 90 year-old mother, and the Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet, who was on holiday there with her boyfriend and two children. The multi-millionaire was staying at another property, approximately 100 yards away, with his wife Joan, and their 25 year old son, Sam.

Ms Winslet and Branson’s nephew, Jack, rushed to the aid of the other guests, and Kate helped to carry out Branson’s mother from the burning building.

Everyone managed to escape from the building unharmed, and although there is a lot of damage to the property, everyone is staying on the island for the time being. Mr Branson said that his office, which was based in the house, had been completely destroyed, adding “I have lost thousands of photographs, which is very sad”.

The 60-year-old purchased the entire island of Necker in the early 1980s, building an onsite eco-resort as well as his Great House in 1982.

Sir Richard said: “It’s very much the Dunkirk Spirit here. We want to rebuild the house as soon as we can.

“We have a wonderful staff here and we want them to stay in work.

“There’s a lot of damage but we’ll create something even more special out of the ruins.”

Lower Gardens in Bournemouth

Now when you think about the fire brigade, I would imagine that your mind first jumps to a big towering inferno, lots of smoke and heat and people needing rescuing from the flames. Well, that is definitely a big part of their job, but today in not-so-sunny Dorset, where I reside, they were being called out for an entirely different reason.

Torrential rain, thunder and lightning hit my adopted home county today, resulting in flash floods, damage to property and travel chaos. The rain was so heavy, that one road actually split, due to the pressure of the water running through the drains beneath it.

So, although you normally associate the fire department with, well…fires, in this case, they were helping out in flooding situations – not what you would normally associate with the department and their vast array of fire safety equipment. Every fire crew in Dorset and neighbouring Hampshire was either on standby, or actually attending a flooding incident this morning.

The Dorset Fire and Rescue Service received 50 calls within half and hour, and calls were still coming in thick and fast. Fire fighters attended many incidents in the county, including large businesses such as Asda, House of Fraser, and even the Russell Cotes Museum.

Fire crews were called to the Bournemouth Nuffied Hospital, where patients had to be evacuated after a ceiling collapsed due to the weight of the rain water.

The fire service advised that if flood water is entering your home, you turn off the electricity at the mains, and move to higher rooms in the house. You should take any precious objects with you where possible, and if water is entering the house, you should ring the fire brigade. Although it may take a while for them to get to you in situations like this, they will get there as soon as they can.

So, Dorset is a very soggy place today. The Lower Gardens in Bournemouth are completely covered in water, and the Bournemouth Air Festival which was due to start today has had all events cancelled for the day. Hopefully things will dry out soon, but just remember, your friendly fire department are always there in wet or dry situations!

Lakanal House fire in 2009

Interesting article in The Guardian this week. According to a survey which questioned managers who are responsible for ensuring buildings are properly maintained, three quarters of all social housing blocks are potentially unsafe in a fire. A similar proportion of housing managers are not confident that their blocks have had a proper fire risk assessment either.

Hugely scary statistics. The study was carried out jointly by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Chief Fire Officers Association, and will raise concerns once again about the fire safety of social housing – and in particular in high-rise blocks.

Back in July 2009, six people were killed when a fire swept through Lakanal House in Camberwell. The 1959-built, 14 storey south London block had undergone decades of botched modifications to its structure, and this massively compromised its ability to contain fires. As a result, flames spread both vertically and horizontally at an incredible speed, and trapped residents in the building, leading to their deaths.

After this fire, safety seminars were organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Chief Fire Officers Association, for professionals in the social housing sector. During these seminars, surveys were carried out. Before the seminar, 45% believed that their buildings were fit for purpose regarding fire safety, however, after the seminar, this percentage dropped to just 27%.

Quite surprising results, but it is good that such seminars are raising awareness of problems, and measures can then be taken to improve the safety of buildings.

Debbie Larner, head of practice at the Chartered Institute of Housing, the professional body for social housing groups, said the figures were “quite shocking” but stressed the need for perspective. “There’s much more awareness about what the issues are. We’re getting a sense that people really want to ensure that their assessments are much more robust. It’s less of a tick-box approach,” she said.

Some fire safety experts take a more gloomy view, saying that decades of chronic under-investment in social housing stock has left many hundreds of blocks unsafe. Correcting all this would cost hundreds of millions of pounds, a sum which councils and other housing providers simply cannot afford, they say.

Fridges. Now, when one thinks of fridges, one’s mind does not normally spring immediately to the word ‘Fire’. Firstly, fridges are cold, and fires are hot. Secondly, of all the kitchen appliances, a fridge probably wouldn’t be the one most likely to cause a blazing inferno in your food preparation area. I would imagine that things such as ovens, hobs and toasters are the more likely candidates for causing such destruction. And don’t forget, that a fire blanket is a good item to keep in your kitchen in case a fire starts as a result of any of these items.

Anyway, fire chiefs have been warning about a potentially deadly fire risk from a brand of fridge-freezer. This is after a faulty appliance went up in smoke in the home of a 36 year old man, causing his death. Santosh Benjamin-Muthiah died from a lack of oxygen in the blaze in Wealdstone, North London.

A similar appliance was also thought to be to blame for destroying the kitchen and causing extensive smoke damage at a 43 year old man’s flat in Longstone.

The same brand of fridge freezer has been blamed for starting three house fires in Edinburgh and the Lothians since 2010, and London fire bosses have said that they believe up to half a million of the Beko appliances could be faulty in houses across the UK.

People who own any model of Beko appliances manufactured between January 2000 and October 2006 have been advised to check on the trading standards website, to see if their appliance if affected. The company have said that they are contacting customers to fix the problem for free.

Over the last three years the London Fire Brigade’s investigation team has been working to establish a link between a faulty defroster timer switch on the appliances and a number of house fires.

The problem occurs when water gets into the defrost timer switch, which can lead to an electrical malfunction resulting in plastic components and other highly flammable insulation inside the appliance catching fire.

The fire brigade formally alerted Beko to the problem in June 2010 and the manufacturer has been trying to locate the products so that the fault can be corrected.

A Beko spokesman said: “We have contacted all retailers who sold these products to seek their help in identifying affected customers from their sales records.

“This has allowed us to mail these customers to make them aware of the issue and to urge them to contact our freephone number to arrange the modification.

“As a result of this ongoing activity we have mailed over 100,000 owners and have successfully located and modified 11,000 units.”

The hospital's main entrance suffered extensive damage

I was listening to the radio on my way into work this morning, in my usual way, and heard a story about an Accident and Emergency department in a hospital being closed to minor injuries. The reason for this was that they were running a reduced service as part of the department had been damaged by a fire over the weekend. Now, I only heard a snippet of this, so decided to investigate a bit more.

The A&E department in question is at the Chesterfied Royal Hospital in Derby. A fire broke out at 9.20pm on Saturday evening in a newsagent shop which is located in the hospital’s main entrance. Due to the proximity of the A&E Department to the fire, staff immediately closed the department and 15 stretcher-bound patients had to be moved to other areas of the hospital. They also diverted all emergency admissions through to other nearby hospitals in Sheffield, Nottinghamshire and Derby.

There were 10 fire engines and approximately 60 fire fighters that attended the fire and the flames were eventually extinguished after midnight. The fire spread through a roof space in the hospital, and so there was considerable fire and smoke damaged to the A&E reception area, and to the fracture clinic.

The A&E unit has now re-opened, but a spokesperson for the hospital has urged people to consider options other than A&E for non life-threatening conditions and minor injuries, as the fire has lead to ongoing disruption in the department.

Fortunately no-one was injured in the fire, thanks to the swift actions of the Chesterfield Royal Hospital’s staff.

So imagine this. You have ordered yourself a boat. Not just any boat. A Sunseeker. For those of you in the know, you’ll be well aware of how fabulously gorgeous these luxury motor yachts are. You will also know that a £7 million price tag is fairly run of the mill.

So, you’ve ordered your boat. You have paid your money, and Sunseeker have custom built it to your exact specification. It is in dry dock at the Sunseeker boatyard in Poole Harbour, Dorset, ready for delivery to its new owner. Everything looks good.

However, late on Friday night, a fire broke out at the Poole boatyard, and the aforementioned 34m (112ft) luxury motor cruiser was completely destroyed. More than 50 firefighters and six fire engines attended the scene, and the fire took several hours to be put out.

Station manager Michael Cox, of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire crews arrived to find a severe fire on the flybridge and inside the accommodation space of the boat.

He added: “The vessel’s out of the water, it’s moored on the dockside where it’s been sat on cradles, which has hampered access to the actual vessel itself.

“Neighbouring boats that had been parked and moored adjacent to the vessel on fire have been moved with no damage, including the RNLI towing away a 40m motor yacht.”

Fortunately, there was no oil spillage into the harbour. The cause of the fire is not yet known, and is being investigated by the fire service, and Dorset police. However, speculation is that a lightning strike may have been to blame.

The managing director of Sunseeker, Stewart McIntyre, said that the yacht was due to be shipped to its new owner in Mexico in the next few weeks.

No one was hurt in the blaze, but I expect that the boat’s intended owner will be nursing some severe disappointment for a few weeks to come.

A 43 year old woman has died on board a London Midland train, following a fire in the toilet.

Emergency services were called to Leighton Buzzard Railway Station to access the train, which had come to a halt under the Soulbury Road bridge.

Two fire crews and a water carrier from Leighton Buzzard and a multi-role vehicle from Woburn were sent to the scene, followed by a further fire crew from Dunstable. When the fire crews arrived they discovered that there was a severe fire within the toilet compartment of one carriage on the train.

Two fire fighters in breathing apparatus used one hose reel to extinguish the fire. A dry powder fire extinguisher was also used.

A body was discovered within the toilet compartment later confirmed by British Transport police to be a 43 year old woman. There were roughly 40 other passengers on the train, but they had all managed to get to safety.

Passenger David Hall from Mount Pleasant, Soulbury, was on the train in the next carriage to the fire. He said: “We had just come out of Linslade tunnels and there was another whooshing sound, like going into a tunnel. There was a rush of smoke coming down the carriage and the train stopped. A young guy jumped up and bailed us all out – we were all very calm, no one panicked. We walked to the station and someone said it was an electrical fault. I was a bit shocked when I found out what had really happened.”

A spokesman for the fire service said: “The fire was contained to the toilet compartment, by the fire crews, who then checked the remainder of the carriage for further fire damage. Fire officers at the scene liaised with Network Rail to allow the northbound lines to resume operating at reduced speed.”

Fire fighter Crew Commander Paul Ayres of Leighton was taken to hospital suffering from burns to his hand. He was later discharged and returned home.

Fire officers have joined with officers from British Transport police to conduct an investigation into the incident, and the death of the 43 year old woman. A spokesman said: “The deceased woman has injuries consistent with burns.

“No other person is believed to have been involved in the incident and it is not being treated as an accident.”

A London Midland spokesman said the first they were aware of the fire was when a passenger reported it to the conductor. The train was stopped and the electricity to all four lines of the West Coast Main Line were cut. It was later resumed that evening.

Ever wondered how much a new fire station for your town might cost? Well, you’re looking a roughly £2 million, if Fleetwood’s new design is anything to go by.

The Lancashire town has unveiled the plans for it’s new state-of-the-art station, just as preparation work is getting under way at the site. The station is going to be based on the same site as the old one, which means that fire fighters will have to work out of a temporary building until the new one is completed.

The current building was put up in 1962, and has been in dire need of replacement for some time. The new building should be completed in the summer of 2012, and although the diggers moved in and started work last week, the old building won’t be demolished until June.

Station manager Neil Taylor said: “Our present building is dilapidated and no longer fit for purpose.

“The new one will be more than just a new building – it will enable us to work much more closely with the community.

“We will have different groups here in a special meeting room, and I believe it will make our fire prevention activities in Fleetwood even better.”

But he added: “I would like to reassure people that while the building work is carried out here, we will continue to offer the same fire fighting and fire prevention work that we have always done.”

The new station will be environmentally friendly, as well as having purpose-built facilities such as community meeting areas, a rest room, canteen and gymnasium. The building will have a rainwater harvesting system installed, and will be more energy efficient too.

Equipment is gradually being moved out of the old site, and the temporary building should be ready in May. The firemen will be working from here for about a year, and once the demolition has taken place, the building work should begin in August.

I am sure that the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service will be very pleased once their shiny new building is up and running.

Amazing news story this week. Yes, you did read the title of this blog post correctly. Pet snake causes fire. I shall repeat it, a pet snake has caused a fire.

Now, when I first saw the headline of this story, all sorts of images went through my mind. And then a lot of questions. How one earth does a snake start a fire? Was it spontaneous combustion? Or was it the snake version of arson? If it was an intentional fire-setting, how does a snake start a fire? Surely they cannot use matches? I mean, matches necessitate the use of opposable thumbs, and snakes are completely thumb-less, not to mention lacking in hands too.

Well, as it turns out there is not a snake arsonist roaming around out there at all. What actually happened was that the household pet snake had dislodged its heat lamp in its vivarium. The heat lamp had then fallen onto some bark that was in the animal’s enclosure, and the bark had started burning.

The fire alarm had been activated, and firefighters were called to the property at 6.20 in the morning on Friday 4^th February.

The retained fire crew put out the fire using buckets of water, and all was well. You will also be pleased to know that the clumsy snake escaped unharmed.

The incident happened in Ferndown, which is not far from Poole in Dorset. Which is where I live. Slightly concerned about the prospect of lots of fire-causing snakes dotted around my town, but I think this is probably a rare occurrence!

So, if you have animals of any sort, make sure that they are as safe as possible. Heat lamps can easily cause fires if they come into contact with flammable materials, so keep your eyes peeled. Animals are, by nature, unpredictable, so keep them as far away from sources of fire as possible.

Do you drive a car? Chances are, the answer is ‘Yes’. I know I do. I was ecstatic on the day I turned 17 and was finally able to start driving. I love my car, and I love being able to drive – there is such a freedom in being able to jump in the car and set off to wherever you want to go. Love it.

Parking, however, is an entirely different matter. Parking is the yang to driving’s yin. Hurrah for the freedom of motor travel, and boo hiss to the frustration of finding a decent parking space. Often I see people parked in some odd, inconsiderate, and often downright illegal places. However, annoying as this can be, I have never really thought that it could be putting peoples’ lives at risk.

In the news this week, there has been a story about how motorists who block the passage of emergency vehicles with inconsiderate parking may be doing exactly that. Fire crews that are rushing to 999 calls have sometimes struggled to reach the victims because of parked cars blocking their way.

So Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, in conjunction with Dorset Police, have launched a campaign urging drivers to think about where and how they park.

In the future, if 999 crews find their way blocked, they’ll place a specially designed leaflet on the vehicle and note the registration number, and if the same vehicles keep coming up they will then be reported to police.

Firefighter Nick Thirkettle said: “It is vital that emergency crews can gain access to your street when responding to 999 calls. Precious time could be lost and lives put at risk when taking alternative routes or trying to squeeze between inconsiderately parked vehicles.

“When parking on the roads please think about emergency vehicles being able to get through. It may be you, your family, friends, colleagues or neighbours that we can’t get to.”

Police sergeant Rachel Goodwin, who works as Dorset Police’s anti-social behaviour co-ordinator, reminds drivers it is an offence to obstruct or hinder 999 workers responding to an emergency.

She warned: “By causing an unnecessary obstruction, which could include stopping on the road and/or pavement, you may end up delaying emergency vehicles, which can ultimately be a matter of life and death.”

So, be careful fellow motorists. I know it is frustrating trying to find somewhere to park, especially when you are running late, but bear in mind that parking on double yellow lines may be stopping someone being rescued from a fire. Better to be late than to have someone’s death on your conscience.