At a press conference today (Wednesday 22 October 2008) at 11am
Deputy Chief Fire Officer Jerry O'Brien announced the result of the
Fire Investigation into the Grand Pier Fire,
Weston-super-Mare, which broke out on Monday 28 July 2008.
DCFO O'Brien said: "The Pavilion at the end of the Grand Pier,
Weston-super-Mare, was a significant and much-loved tourist
attraction and prominent landmark for the area. Its loss was
felt by the owners, the community of Weston-super-Mare and people
who visit and holiday in the area.
"I would like to place on record AF&RS's gratitude to our
staff who dealt with the incident on the day, and our partners and
key stakeholders who worked with us during the period of the fire
investigation. We will continue to work collaboratively with
the owners, the local authority and key stakeholders in an effort
to restore the iconic landmark to its former glory.
"At 06.45 hours on Monday 28 July our Emergency Control Room
received the first of multiple 999 calls to reports of a fire in
the Pavilion building at the seaward end of the Grand Pier
W-s-M.
"Two fire engines from Weston-super-Mare Fire Station were
mobilised at 06.46 hours and were on scene by 06.51 hours. On
arrival the Officer in Charge asked for additional fire engines to
be mobilised, but despite their best efforts it was clear that the
fire was already well developed and rapidly taking hold of the
entire Pavilion building.
"While firefighting operations were underway we launched what
turned out to be a painstaking joint investigation to determine the
cause of the fire. This investigation was conducted by AF&RS,
alongside specialists from Laboratory of Government Chemists,
Hawkins & Associates (Forensic Investigators) and Burgoynes
(Consulting Scientists & Engineers).
"A number of factors contributed to a much more challenging
incident than it might have been. These included fighting a fire at
the end of a 200 metre wooden pier, 15 metres above the beach, with
the tide out.
"During the investigation evidence has come to light that at
01.35 a signal from the Grand Pier's Pavilion fire alarm system was
transmitted to an alarm monitoring company, however no call was
received by AF&RS at that time. The fire alarm system was
not linked to our Emergency 999 Control Room.
"If the service had received a call at the time of the first
alarm transmission it is likely that we would have been faced with
a less developed fire.
"Detailed examinations of the site have been undertaken, with
investigators sifting through what debris remained, analysing hours
of CCTV footage and collecting information from eye-witness
statements. The findings indicate that the fire broke out
above ground floor level in the north east corner tower of the
Pavilion.
"Due to the extent of fire damage and difficulties in the
recovery of physical evidence, much of which was washed away by the
sea, the Fire Investigation Team had to rely heavily on witness
testimonies, photographic and CCTV images.
"The investigation has revealed that deliberate ignition is
unlikely as there was no evidence of forced entry or use of
accelerants, supported by the lack of accelerant burn patterns
being found on available evidence.
"A number of potential causes were identified, meticulously
analysed and systematically discounted by forensic experts during
the investigation. It is therefore considered unlikely that
the fire was caused by carelessly discarded smoking materials,
electrical cooking or heating appliances, self-heating of cooking
substances, a gas supply or source of naked flame.
"Taking into consideration evidence provided by eye witnesses
CCTV images, firefighters and a detailed scene examination, the
cause of this fire will therefore officially be recorded as
unknown. However, the evidence obtained by the Fire
Investigation Team suggests that the most likely cause was an
electrical fault of unknown origin located above ground floor level
in the area of the north east corner of the
Pavilion."
You can read the Weston-super-Mare Pier fire - Fire
Investigation Report
and the Weston-super-Mare pier fire - Report of
Fire
Read our coverage of the incident from July and
August