Fire-fighter Safety in Buildings Part 4: Warehouses

Tuesday 6th November 2012

10:00: GM Richard Fowler - East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service presents "Insulated Sandwich Panel Construction" & "Case study: The County Pine Warehouse Fire 2008"

13:30: ACO Jim Onions - Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service presents "Case study: The Atherstone on Stour Warehouse Fire 2007" at Severn Park Training Centre, Avonmouth, BS11 0YA

5 hrs CPD

All welcome - lunch provided upon booking only

Please email adam.course@avonfire.gov.uk to reserve a place and book lunch.

This presentation is a must for those interested in fire-fighter safety, fire service operations, incident command, building construction, technical fire safety, inspections, fire safety order inspections, building control and building regulations, fire investigation, fire behaviour knowledge, heat stress, inter agency liason and communication and how these should all link up together……….

A number of large fires have occurred worldwide, in buildings constructed using insulated sandwich panels in recent years, often resulting in the total loss of the building with the panels normally being blamed for that loss. Some have also involved loss of life, including numerous fire-fighter fatalities. Numerous near miss incidents have also occurred, which often go unreported fully.

Methods of construction and construction materials have evolved rapidly in recent years and this trend shows no sign of slowing. Ever more innovative designs are being considered to make buildings cheaper, lighter, more versatile, quicker to construct and more attractive to architects, designers and end users.

Insulated sandwich panels have been used in various sectors for many years now and in particular in the cold storage and food processing industries. More recently, panels are being used in the construction of factories, offices, large retail premises, schools and storage buildings.

Our first speaker is Group Manager Richard Fowler from East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. He will discuss Insulated Sandwich Panel Construction and a near miss case study - The County Pine Warehouse Fire, 2008.

Richard Fowler joined East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service in the UK in 1988 and is currently serving as the Head of Protection in the role of Group Manager. Specific references include technical fire safety and fire investigation. Richard graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in 2003 with a BEng(Hons) in Fire Engineering, and from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge in 2010 with an MSc in Fire Investigation. Richard is also a Chartered Manager with the Charters Management Institute.

Richard is a Companion Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers and is the Branch Secretary of the South Eastern Branch in the UK. He also represents that Branch on the International General Assembly.

Our second speaker is Assistant Chief Officer Jim Onions from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. Jim will be presenting the case study of The Atherstone on Stour Warehouse Fire which sadly claimed the lives of four fire-fighters in 2007.

Jim will discuss the incident including, what happened, what went wrong, lessons learnt, fire behaviour, incident command, certain legal perspectives, fire investigation and pre-incident fire safety issues.

Jim joined West Midlands Fire Service in 1984, serving at some of the busiest stations in Birmingham and as a Fire Investigator. He was promoted to Area Commander in 2005 with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, developing experience of rural and retained fire-fighting. Promotion to Assistant Chief Fire Officer in 2010, saw him transferring to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, where he leads the inquiry work into the Atherstone on Stour fire.

He is a Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers and holds a Master of Business Administration degree.