Peckforton castle 31 5 11

31 May 2011 Mr Christopher Naylor Managing Director Peckforton Castle, Stone House Lane Peckforton, Tarporley, Cheshire CW6 9TN Dear Sir, Re: Fire Safety, Peckforton Castle, Peckforton, Cheshire CW6 9TN I have just returned from a short break at Peckforton Castle and would like to raise a number of fire safety concerns that I noted during my stay which I feel need your urgent attention.

1.

Means of Escape and Fire Separation

As I’m sure you are aware the standard of fire safety for hotels is outlined in HM Government Fire Safety Risk Assessment in Sleeping Accommodation May 2006. This hotel has a number of features that would allow fire and smoke to spread between floors and so prevent the safe evacuation of guests/staff and I am referring to the light and ventilation wells that are situated internally within the castle. Whilst you may not be aware of this fact but a similar feature played a key role in the tragic fire at the Penhallow Hotel where 3 people died.

In order to prevent fire spreading between floors and to escape routes the guide recommends the following method of protecting escape routes:

Obviously, I appreciate the unique character of the building and the attempts that have been made to protect its original layout but I feel that these features do not lend themselves to modern fire safety thinking and do not interact with the protected escape route philosophy.

It appears to me that the current design of the escape routes has accepted the open feature of these light/ventilation wells on the basis that there is installed a comprehensive automatic fire detection system coupled with self closing fire doors to risk areas but my inspection revealed the following concerns: a.

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Fire Doors Left Open

b.

Fire Doors with Auto Hold Removed

100.

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Fire Door with Defective Hinges

500. Poorly Fitting Fire Doors

e.

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Hinges Re-positioned and Intumescent Smoke Strip Not Fitted

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f.

Poorly Fitting Fire Doors

g.

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Holes in Fire Doors

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h) Fire Doors Without Fire/Smoke Seals

i) Fire Doors Wedged Open

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j. Fire Door Frames Not Sealed to Walls

k) Cable Penetrations Not Sealed

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The above photographs are just a few of the problems that I noted but I think that you can now see how easy it would be for fire and smoke to spread quickly between floors and prevent the safe escape from fire.When designing the means of escape its worth considering the definition used by most fire engineers “Structural means forming an integral part of the building whereby persons can escape from fire by their own unaided efforts�. You will note that the definition does not refer to automatic smoke and fire detection because this is one of the features that is taken into account when assessing the means of escape but it usually in conjunction with vertical and horizontal fire separation and not in place of it.

2.

Automatic Fire Detection.

Whilst I did not make a detailed inspection of this system there were a couple of points that you should be aware of: a) Poor Fan and Detector Positioning ( Fan prevents smoke from activating detector)

b) No Smoke Detector for Staircase Fire Doors

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c) Detector Positioning

Note: Whilst this is the most common place to fit automatic fire detection in a light/ventilation shaft it has the problem that a thermal barrier is created at the top which can prevent smoke from reaching the detector and in this instance smoke may have to reach a corridor detector to raise the alarm. I would normally carry out smoke tests to establish how effective the positioning of the detector is.

3.

Electrical Safety It was noted that some items are past their test dates:

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4.

General Fire Safety Measures a) The use of large numbers of candles requires needs very close supervision and strict control procedures:

b) This step is in need of repair to the nosing.

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100. Emergency Contact - this may be a useful facility to add.

I would be pleased to receive your urgent observations on my comments and I look forward to your reply. If you wish to discuss any points please feel free to do so but please note that I will be out of the country from the the 5th to the 20th June and not easily contactable.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Cox

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