investigations firegeezer on 30 Sep 2008 03:28 pm
Cutty Sark Fire Cause Released
IT WAS ON MAY 21, 2007, THAT BRITAIN’S ICONIC SAILING SHIP CUTTY SARK suffered a tragic fire that destroyed most of the hull and swept through the three decks as it was undergoing renovation.
The fire was first reported around 4 am after it was well underway and the London Fire Brigade had to work hard to keep the fire from extending more than it did. The ship has been on permanent display for over 50 years and is one of London’s most popular tourist attractions.
At the time of the fire it was closed for a major renovation and fortunately all of the ship’s artifacts, decking and cabins had been removed while the ship’s wrought iron frame was being restored and preserved. However, the fire loss still exceeded £10 million and set back the completion date for the restoration by two years.
This photo released by the Metropolitan Police and London
Fire Brigade shows the damage belowdecks from the fire.
ITV carried this video of the fire:
Initially the fire was believed to be “suspicious,” but after 16 months of exhaustive investigation the cause has been determined to be accidental. The police invesitgators have reported that the fire likely started with an industrial vacuum machine that was being used to collect concrete dust in the work area and had carelessly been left turned on over the weekend for over 48 hours. The dust collector previously had overheating problems and at one time had been sent back to the manufacturer for repairs.
But the mitigating factor in the fire spread was the dereliction of duty of the two watchmen who were supposed to patrol the location and make periodic fire checks and log their activities. Instead, one of them was sleeping on the job while the other was sitting in the visitor’s cafeteria reading his Bible. The log book was found to have been forged ahead of time by filling out all of the entries for the entire night at the beginning of the shift, including an entry for 7 am (after the ship had burned down) saying ‘Off duty, all is in order.”
The investigation also found that work practices during the weeks preceding had ignored all basic fire prevention standards.
The Times (London) has more details of the invetigation HERE.
The Telegraph has posted this video report today:
