9 replies to this topic

[Richard H]

The report into the fire and explosion at Marlie Farm (Festival, Alpha Fireworks Ltd) was published today by East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service. It makes for interesting reading and goes into great detail about what happened.

http://www.esfrs.org...ngsReport.shtml

[Vic]

Richard could you outline the case and the subsequent report?

[whoof]

It is a big read.
From first browse , a police offficer interviewed a worker who was putting a detonator into a firework.
I assume he meant e match.
This seems to be the initial source of ignition.(about page 46 from memory)
Lots of stuff after that covering the chain of events.
There was a sucessful manslaughter prosecution including appeal although i did not see penalties imposed.

I will be reading the whole thing as time permits.
Hopefully Richard will review it but if not i will read and offer a precis

[Richard H]

I spent a couple of hours reading it yesterday, if I get time this weekend I will try to summarise. I have a wedding display this evening to attend to first!

R

[phildunford]

As I understand from various information and attending a lecture on the incident by the head of HSE, the main points are as follows:

The initial fire started due to an ignition while fusing a firework.

This spread to other material and 'cooked' an ISO container which contained a large quantity of fireworks. The exact contents have never been established.

This initiated a massive explosion causing 2 deaths, many injuries & huge damage.

The ISO container was not licensed to be on the site, therefore the fire service were not aware of the extent of the danger. If they had been, they would not have fought the fire at close quarters and the deaths and injuries would probably have been avoided.

This was deemed to be negligence on the part of the owners and resulted in them both receiving lengthy custodial sentences for manslaughter.

The whole thing was a dreadful tragedy which should never have happened.

Lets hope lessons have been learned for the future.


One for nearly all of us, is to treat electric ignitors with the respect they deserve. I've seen people just throw them loose in the back of a van.

[Mortartube]

Having been to the site a few times just before bonfire night, all I can say is that thank God it didn't happen a few weeks before Nov 5th or it undoubtedly would have been of a far greater magnitude.

[thelizard-guy]

It is a big read.
From first browse , a police offficer interviewed a worker who was putting a detonator into a firework.
I assume he meant e match.
This seems to be the initial source of ignition.(about page 46 from memory)
Lots of stuff after that covering the chain of events.
There was a sucessful manslaughter prosecution including appeal although i did not see penalties imposed.

I will be reading the whole thing as time permits.
Hopefully Richard will review it but if not i will read and offer a precis

WOW, i cant even read a quarter of it lol massive

[Arthur Brown]

The Fire Service report has lots of their service jargonspeak, also lots of comment on their PPE and command structure.

The HSE report was in my opinion easier to understand from a firework learning viewpoint, but it seems to only be available when delivered as a powerpoint by HSE, (unless anyone knows better).

Richard, Exat and anyone else, can the HSE report be found available on the web, can the forum offer a link so that readers can get the correct information from the best place?

[exat808]

The Fire Service report has lots of their service jargonspeak, also lots of comment on their PPE and command structure.

The HSE report was in my opinion easier to understand from a firework learning viewpoint, but it seems to only be available when delivered as a powerpoint by HSE, (unless anyone knows better).

Richard, Exat and anyone else, can the HSE report be found available on the web, can the forum offer a link so that readers can get the correct information from the best place?

I have a copy of the HSE .ppt file and also have it as a .pdf file. I will need to see if it is sanctioned for release.

[Arthur Brown]

IF it publicly releasable then I certainly would like to read it to reinforce the memory of when I saw the .PP presented. If it is not publicly releasable then is there a possibility of the Society receiving a HSE approved presentation at a meeting, maybe Exat could deliver it with HSE approval?