Brighton fire sparks fears

A leading fire expert has called for the uniform adoption of FIRAS, a training and accreditation scheme for installing fire protection, following the destruction of a Victorian hotel in Brighton, two weeks ago.

David Sugden, chief executive of trade body the Association For Specialist Fire Protection, said the fire risks that were exposed by the inferno at the Royal Albion Hotel could be commonplace in similar buildings across the country.

The fire apparently spread rapidly from the kitchen through extract ductwork to the roof. Sugden said: "This should not have happened - the structures should be split into areas of manageable risk. It will now be two years before the hotel is back in operation."

Sugden contrasted the damage caused by the Brighton fire with a similar blaze at Terminal One of Heathrow Airport a year ago.

"In the case of the Heathrow fire, the terminal was open again for business inside 12 hours of the fire being detected. The fire-containing performance of the structure allowed the many businesses involved to resume trading within reasonable time," he said.

The FIRAS accreditation scheme was established by five trade organisations and is run by an independent research body in Warrington. It seeks to enforce fire prevention measures in a similar way to the Corgi scheme for gas appliances.