Local MP visits ‘shocked’ Newquay
North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson, today (Monday) said that fire regulations which permit a wooden fire escape were ‘curious at best’. He has challenged Ministers on the additional funding Cornish MPs say is needed for the area’s emergency services following his visit to Newquay on Sunday afternoon.
The local Liberal Democrat MP visited Island Crescent, Newquay, the site of the Penhallow Hotel where a man died in the early hours of Saturday morning, jumping from a blaze which injured four others. Two people remain unaccounted for.
Mr Rogerson met with Chief Fire Officer, Matt Littmoden, Superintendent John Green and members of their team to thank them for their efforts in extinguishing the fire and rescuing some eighty people from the building.
Today, he has written to Mr Littmoden seeking further clarification on the ways in which fire cover can be improved in Cornwall, reiterating his support for additional funding for the area, particularly during the summer months. The letter also seeks the Chief Fire Officer’s views on the fire regulations, which were brought into effect in October 2006.
Commenting, Mr Rogerson said:
“People in Newquay – and across Cornwall – are understandably very shocked at what has happened. We must now work together to establish how such a tragedy can be prevented in the future.
“This incident underlines the essential work that both full time and retain fire officers based in Cornwall do to protect those who live and work here. The need for them is especially acute when the population increases during summer.
“I will be working with the Chief Fire Officer and others to determine the best way forward. We will clearly have to look closely at the fire investigators’ report to see what lessons should be learned in terms of how fire cover and the government’s policy on inspections might be improved. It is certainly cause for concern that a wooden fire escape should meet minimum fire safety standards.
“In the meantime, I have written to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears, to seek an urgent meeting with her so we look again at the merits of the new fire safety regulations.
“We will also want to reiterate our longstanding view that a peninsula without neighbouring counties on three sides should attract additional resources from central government to fund emergency services.”
