The ongoing Fatal Accident Inquiry into the fire at Cameron House in December 2017, where two men died, has heard there was a “management failing” at the hotel.
Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner, Richard Dyson, 38, from London, died as a result of the fire, and hotel company Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd was previously fined £500,000, after admitting to two charges of breaching the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. Night porter Christopher O’Malley was also given a community payback order.
Lack of SOP
The inquiry has previously heard that Mr. O’Malley had emptied ash and embers from a fire into a plastic bag, and then stored it in a cupboard alongside kindling and newspapers, on the night of the fire.
Mark Stewart QC, on behalf of Mr. O’Malley, said the lack of a standard operating procedure on emptying used open fires, “left staff, who had not been properly trained, to their own devices.”
Failed management
I’m not trying to lay the blame on you but there seems to have been management failing at some point"
Andy Roger, the hotel’s resort director at the time of the incident, told the inquiry, “I would say I don’t disagree with the comment about the document and training, but wouldn’t say they were left to their own devices.”
The QC responded, “I’m not trying to lay the blame on you but there seems to have been a management failing at some point in the chain that has led to tragedy.”
Absence of night fire drills
Barry Smith QC, asked his client, Mr. Roger, “Were you aware that the night porters were using an eccentric or ad hoc selection of equipment to recover ashes from fires.” Mr. Roger responded that he wasn’t aware. Mr. Roger also stated that the hotel did not do fire drills at night and that they typically occurred “around 10:30 to 11 in the morning or three or four in the afternoon.”
Discussing after-hours role-play drills, Mr. Roger said, “That was not something we did, in hindsight, that’s something we have done differently, we have done silent drills since we re-opened to capture that.” The inquiry also heard that equipment for the roll-call of guests in the event of an emergency was left behind in the evacuation.
Combustible storage
James Clark, a fire inspector for Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, examined the hotel during the summer of 2017 and raised concerns about the concierge cupboard, saying, “Combustible storage should not be locked in the cupboard containing mains electrical installation apparatus.” Following the inspection, the hotel’s general manager Craig Paton emailed staff saying, “Can you make it safe and speak to the team? Highlighted previously by the fire safety inspector and still an issue.”
Alan Grimes, the head concierge at the hotel at the time of the fire, told the inquiry that newspapers had stopped being stored in the cupboard following the fire service’s inspection. The hotel’s fire plan also stated that “Combustible material of any kind must not be stored in general electrical or boiler rooms.”
