Jane Embury on the stupidity of fire Most fires start from something minor. That could be a discarded cigarette, or an electrical short-circuit. Sometimes, however, they start because of human stupidity. Like the US man who set up a deep fryer in his basement, but didn’t check on it. It bubbled over, and caused a […]
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Safety Bill passes committee hurdle
Jane Embury reflects on the Building Safety Bill The Building Safety Bill has passed its committee stage. It now proceeds to its final Commons stage before moving to the House of Lords. The Bill gives residents more power to hold developers to account. A building safety regulator will also ensure the management and resolution of […]
New York fire underlines importance of compartmentation
Jane Embury reflects on recent fires in the USA The recent tragic fire in New York underlines how fire remains a potent threat. That’s despite advances in building design and construction and strict building regulations. Some 20 people, including nine children died during a fire in the Bronx apartment building. Another 32 people were taken […]
A new sense of optimism
Jane Embury looks at what might be in store for 2022 It’s been a turbulent two years for the construction sector, but there are reasons for cautious optimism. The Glenigan UK Construction Industry Forecast 2022-2023 says that the value of underlying project starts is set to rise 7% in 2022 and by a further 5% […]
Compartmentation and the House of Pain
Jane Embury’s second article on learning containment lessons In my last article I described a 2004 fire in Paraguay. In that tragic fire hundreds died because of a lack of containment and adequate escape routes. That’s what our internal and external systems are there to do. Contain the fire at source and protect escape routes. […]
