Facility in Kent Facing Huge Fines After Death of 87-Year-Old Resident
Inadequate fire safety measures have been blamed for the death of a care home resident in a 2011 blaze that also endangered the lives of 22 others.
The tragic death of Londoner Irene Cockerton in 2011 might have been prevented if the Surrey care home where she lived had followed mandatory fire safety regulations. These are the shocking findings of Guildford Crown Court, after Firstport Retirement Properties Ltd pleaded guilty to four separate breaches relating to Gibson Court, a residential care home in Hinchley Wood, Surrey.
The court heard a catalogue of failings, including failure to conduct a risk assessment, inadequate fire equipment signs, insufficient staff training and the complete absence of suitable evacuation procedures.
Inferno
Get Surrey reported that the fire broke out on 30 September 2011, in a neighbouring room to Mrs Cockerton’s and swept unchecked through the loft space due to a lack of compartmental walls. Fire curtains in the roof space had been found to be damaged the previous year, and although repairs had been carried out, only limited inspection had taken place. During the 2014 inquest, coroner Richard Travers had remarked: “One will never know if adequate work had taken place.”
One thing that is known for sure is that while adequate measures should have limited the progress of the fire for up to an hour, in this case the building was an inferno after just 15 minutes. The fire’s progress was exacerbated by cooking grease, which vented from the individual apartments into the roof space instead of outside.
After the alarm was raised, 22 residents were evacuated from the building, but tragically, Mrs Cockerton was unable to escape. Her body was found inside a wardrobe in her room, where she had died of smoke inhalation.
Numerous failings
The prosecution was brought by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, who found that both residents and rescuers were at risk of serious injury and death due to the failings of the Hampshire-based company.
These included the following breaches of fire safety regulations:
- Failure to carry out a suitable risk assessment
- Breaches in the integrity of roof space compartmentalisation
- Greasy vapours and deposits from kitchens increasing the danger of fire spreading
- Failure to implement proper fire evacuation procedures
- Failure to act on previous warnings from fire safety inspectors
- Allowing the roof space fire curtains to fall into disrepair
- Inadequate training for area and house managers
These breaches were all the more shocking given the vulnerability of residents at a senior care facility.
Harrowing
Bernard Thorogood, prosecuting, remarked that the tragedy not only cost Mrs Cockerton her life, but placed the lives of many others in danger, and had affected residents, staff and rescuers. He added that the victim’s daughter had felt unable to attend the court case as she could not face listening to the harrowing details of her mother’s final moments.
Presiding Judge Stephen Climie has yet to decide on the financial penalties, but warned that these would be in the order of “hundreds of thousands of pounds.”