Sultan Chaudhry, manager of the White Lodge Hotel in the Salford area of Manchester, has been found guilty of ten offences under the Regulatory Reform (fire Safety) order 2005.
Following a fire in April 2011, at which several fire crews were called in to tackle the blaze, fire safety officers discovered a number of fire safety threats, including:
- During the time of the fire itself, Mr Chaudhry told crews that all current residents had safely evacuated the building. Fire crews later rescued a ‘missing’ guest from the 1st floor.
- Fire safety officers inspecting the property following the fire discovered that fire alarms in the hotel were faulty and incorrectly wired.
- Fire extinguishers throughout the hotel were empty and would not be of any use extinguishing fire.
- Emergency lighting was missing entirely from one of the main hotel escape routes.
- A fire door, which would prevent the spread of fire, had been removed.
- A sufficient fire risk assessment was not in place.
- Staff at the hotel had not been appropriately trained on fire safety.
- An entrance had been knocked through a wall in the hotel without proper assessment and permissions. This would allow fire to spread directly into the staircase.
In light of these offences, the hotel was served with a prohibition notice. This would prevent the hotel from taking any guests who should, when staying at any hotel, be entitled to high levels of fire safety and protection.
When lives could possibly be put at risk there is really no excuse for poor fire safety. The incident at the White Lodge Hotel could have been far more serious than it was, but luckily the expertise and skill of the fire crews on the scene meant that no-one was harmed.
Mr Chaudhry, who has been convicted of 10 offences in total, is due to be sentenced at the start of May at Manchester Crown Court.
Discount Fire Supplies sells all of the fire alarms and accessories necessary to equip a hotel with a fire alarm system and fire safety features.
