A former manager told an inquiry into a fatal hotel fire he “couldn’t remember” why he didn’t arrange for a policy to be prepared over the disposal of fireplace ash.
Sebastian Pinn was deputy manager at Cameron House Hotel up until June 2016 – 18 months before a blaze killed Simon Midgley, 32, and Richard Dyson, 38.
The couple died after the fire broke out on December 18, 2017, while more than 200 guests were evacuated from the Loch Lomond resort.
Night porter Christopher O’Malley, 37, caused the blaze after emptying ashes from a fireplace into a plastic bag before placing it in a concierge cupboard.
He previously pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws and was given a community payback order, while hotel operator Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd was fined £500,000 after admitting failing to take the fire safety measures necessary to ensure the safety of employees and guests.
Speaking at a Fatal Accident Inquiry into their deaths at the Loch Lomond resort, Mr Pinn told how staff were tasked with implementing recommendations made in a fire risk assessment in 2016.
One of these was that a policy should be written for clearing ashes from open fires and grills – which the court has heard wasn’t in place at the time of the fire.
Witness have told the inquiry how “peer to peer” training was used to teach night porters how to clear fireplaces.
The inquiry has heard the written procedure still wasn’t in place during a follow up visit by assessors Veteran Fire Safety in 2017.
Mr Pinn said the recommendations were discussed at a health and safety meeting, which were held every month.
Advocate Depute Graeme Jessop asked: “What was said about the various recommendations at the meeting?"
He replied: “That we would put the policy in place for the disposal of ash.”
Mr Pinn said he had delegated the task to the hotel’s head chef over the clearing of ash from kitchen grills but it was heard that a policy for the open fires was not prepared.
Mr Jessop asked: “You didn’t arrange for a written policy to be prepared for the open fires, did you?”
He replied: “No. I don’t recall that, no.”
He was asked why, to which he replied: “I can’t remember”.
The inquiry then heard about a statement he had provided to police in February 2019, in which he stated he had been delegated to arrange a written policy over the emptying of ash from the open fires and oven.
In the statement, he went on to say “there was a well established process in place” for the emptying of fire ash, stating he “assumed” staff knew the right procedure to follow.
Michael Wisekal, a fire investigator who was tasked by West Dunbartonshire Council to produce a report on the safe handling of ash, told the inquiry a written procedure would have made sure everybody was following the same process.
When asked about the impact this could have, he replied: “A lack of instruction means there is a lack of perspective towards what the risk is.”
He told the inquiry of ways someone cleaning a fire could check if the ashes were hot, which included moving the ash around with a metal shovel in the fire to check for glowing embers or using an infrared thermometer.
The inquiry has also heard today how bosses were warned over the danger of storing flammable materials on two occasions in 2017.
In August, James Clark, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, had highlighted concerns to the hotel in a routine inspection.
A follow-up letter was issued by SFRS in November 2017, with general manager Craig Paton, pictured below, sending an email to the concierge mailbox, the head concierge and resort manager, asking to “make safe and speak to team”.
Mr Clark’s report said: “Where the integrity of walls or ceilings has been breached to effect repair work or allow services to pass, they should be reinstalled or fire-stopped using materials which provide the original standard of fire resilience. Attention should be given to the concierge cupboard.”
And in the six-point letter sent to the hotel, he said: “Combustible storage should not be locked in the cupboard containing mains electrical installation apparatus.”
David McKerry, who was property manager at the time, accompanied Mr Clark on his inspection and told Crown counsel Graeme Jessop that he arranged for the voids to be filled “there and then” by a contractor who was already on site.
The 45-year-old said staff were asked for newspapers to be removed from the room, and when checked on by the end of the day, they had been.
The follow-up letter from SFRS in November stated “combustible storage should not be located within cupboards containing mains electrical installation apparatus”.
Craig Paton, 46, who was general manager at the hotel, told the inquiry he was not aware kindling was stored in the cupboard, and said confusion arose as he understood it to contain just a fuse board and not a mains electrical installation.
He told how he had sent an email with an attached photograph of the cupboard interior to concierge staff.
It stated ‘Can you make safe and speak to team highlighted previously by fire safety inspection and evidently still an issue.’
Mr Paton said he had checked later that day to find it had been “tidied”, and said clarity was needed over what could be stored there.
He said: “What we were concerned about was the proximity of combustibles to the switchboard because of the risk of electrical fire.”
The inquiry before Sheriff Thomas McCartney continues.
