Fire tests carried out by BRE for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
During the night of 31st January 2004, the fire alarm in Rosepark carehome actuated. The staff on duty had difficulty locating the fire and the fire brigade were called. Most of the elderly residents were evacuated from the building. The brigade BA crew found two corridors of the building heavily smoke logged, but only very small patches of fire which they extinguished. They examined the bedrooms off these two corridors and identified a number of fatally injured victims, and some who they were able to rescue. Of those rescued, some later died in hospital. In total, fourteen elderly people died in the incident.
A number of investigations and reviews were immediately initiated, involving Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, HSE, and the Scottish Executive (via the Scottish Building Standards Agency). A detailed examination of the cause of the fire was carried out at the Health and Safety Laboratory. BRE was commissioned by the Scottish Building Standards Agency to carry out a large-scale reconstruction of the incident, and separately by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to carry out laboratory trials to examine some specific issues regarding the incident.
After some time spent on legal processes, a Fatal Accident Inquiry was started in November 2009 and concluded in August 2010 after 141 days of evidence. The Sheriff Principals’ Determination was published in April 2011.
This report describes the programme of laboratory research which was commissioned by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and carried out during July 2006 by BRE Fire and Security. With the permission of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
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