On Tuesday evening, the announcement of a terrible fire outbreak in Leeds city centre hit the news. The old Majestic Cinema, more recently the Majestyk nightclub, was a blaze with flames shooting out from the roof far into the night sky. Dozens of firefighters worked through the night to try to keep the blaze under control and save as much of the Grade II listed building as possible. By the morning there were still road closures but the building was pronounced safe, despite partial collapse of the roof. It has come to light this morning that a man has been charged with arson for this incident. Thankfully the building is somewhat saved, but this could have been a much more tragic story if the fire had not been skilfully contained.
Today (Thursday) another fire has been announced on the news, not too far away, in Hull. A recycling plant is bellowing smoke hundreds of feet into the air. From the last report, 50 firefighters were at the building and all staff had been evacuated from the area. It is yet unknown what material is burning, but it stated that a “considerable amount of residual waste” was inside the burning single storey building.
Despite the improvements in technology, the increase in fire safety legislation, and the increased knowledge about what to do in the event of a fire, these 2 stories so close together show that the cases do still occur. Thankfully there have been no injuries in these events, but it outlines the importance of having a clear fire safety procedure in your workplace and home and that all alarms are well maintained and in working order. Remember, weekly checks must be carried out, and in commercial cases, recorded in a log book. By keeping on top of these checks you are helping to prevent future incidents.
More details on the fire safety measures we can provide are found on our fire alarm pages, along with fire risk assessments, fire extinguishers and emergency lighting.