A Cameron House night manager emailed bosses asking for overflowing ash bins to be emptied days before a bag containing fire remains was placed in a cupboard causing a blaze which engulfed the hotel and killed two guests.
Darren Robinson gave evidence on the first day of a Fatal Accident Inquiry into the deaths of Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner Richard Dyson, 38, who perished in the blaze at the five-star Loch Lomond resort on Monday, December 18, 2017.
The 36-year-old yesterday told the inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court that he messaged two managers requesting the three bins, used to store ash from the hotel’s open fires, were cleared. The inquiry heard there was no response to the email.
The fatal blaze started just at around 6.30am on the Monday morning after night porter Christopher O’Malley emptied ash and embers from a fuel fire into a polythene bag, and then put it in a cupboard of kindling and newspapers.
Crown counsel Graeme Jessop asked Mr Robinson: “Were you advised by anyone the weekend before the fire that the three bins were full?”
After answering “yes”, he said: “I sent an email to the appropriate people who I thought would be able to sort it out for me.”
When asked whether there had been a response to his email, he said: “As far as I’m aware, no.”
Mr Robinson, who started working at the hotel in August 2012, was also asked about procedures for removing ashes, explaining that night porters would usually empty them between 3am and 5am “to give it time to cool down”.
He said: “Night porters would empty them in the mornings. When they were emptying them, they would have a shovel and a brush and they would have to get a container like an ice bucket or chafing dish.”
He said any fallen ash would be swept up, adding: “If the ash bin underneath was close to being full we would empty it into the container and take it to the back.”
He was asked where the kindling was kept to reset the fire, answering: “That was kept in the concierge cupboard.” Mr Jessop asked if there was any equipment for the porter to check the temperature, to which he replied: “No.”
He asked: “How was the temperature checked?” Mr Robinson replied: “It wasn’t.” Mr Jessop then asked: “Was there any measures for allowing the fire to cool?” and he responded “no”.
As the opening evidence was read out, family members cried softly in the court room.
The inquiry heard that post mortem tests on both men found they died from inhalation of smoke fire gases, caused by the hotel fire, suggesting they were alive during the blaze.
Mr Dyson was declared dead by members of the Scottish Ambulance Service after they fought to save his life, while Mr Midgley died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
In January hotel operator Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd was fined £500,000, and porter Christopher O’Malley was given a community payback order over the fire.
The hotel firm admitted failing to take the necessary fire safety measures to ensure the safety of its guests and employees between January 14 2016 and December 18 2017.
The company admitted two charges of breaching the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005.
O’Malley admitted breaching sections of health and safety laws which relate to the obligation on an employee to take reasonable care for the health and safety of people affected by their acts or omissions at work.
At yesterday’s hearing Mr Robinson was also asked about his fire and safety training, saying he had completed an online course and had carried out practical training in relation to the use of fire extinguishers.
He said checks were made of the fire exits throughout the day and night, explaining: “It was done via a baton. That system was not working at the time of the fire but it was manually recorded.
“You took it to the fire exits and it would record the time and particular fire exit that was checked. We would print off the data showing what door was checked and what time it was checked.”
He said the night manager would be “in charge” in the event of a fire and would be the fire marshal for the evacuation.
The inquiry also heard about the hotel’s fire evacuation procedure, which instructed the “fire controller” to collect a roll call pack and comfort box. He was asked: “Was there a process whereby a copy of that list was kept?”
Mr Robinson said: “We printed it off every two hours during the day and we would update it at night after the last person had checked in.”
The inquiry heard of the fire safety system in the hotel at the time of the blaze.
He said fire and heat alarms were located across the property, and explained what would happen if just one went off: “It sets off a buzzer on the fire control panel situated at reception.
"Once that goes off I, as the night manager, have three minutes to get to the detection, investigate it, check if it was a false alarm of if anything was going on. The inquiry before Sheriff Thomas McCartney continues.
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