A Perth hotel that went up in flames earlier this week killing three people and a dog was reportedly ordered to improve its fire safety measures just weeks beforehand. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is understood to have completed a safety audit on the New County Hotel in Perth on December 12.
Three weeks later, on January 2 an early morning fire took hold in a top-floor room. The blaze ripped through the hotel and sent guests screaming into the street as flames spewed from a window. Three people were confirmed to have died in the inferno.
The Courier reports that the completed audit, sent to the hotel on December 16, raised 21 concerns that fire chiefs wanted to see addressed. Among the more pressing issues flagged were problems with escape routes, with emergency lighting reportedly "inadequate" on some routes including within the kitchen, at the front entrance and at the rear. Some lighting equipment was reportedly defective, and was not periodically tested.
