Large Fire At Bedford Industrial Estate

Here’s an aerial picture taken by Bedfordshire fire service that shows the devastation of an industrial estate fire in Clophill just outside Bedford at the end of May. Fire crews battled through the night while three warehouses were destroyed but they successfully protected a petrol station and a number of nearby homes that were evacuated during the incident for good measure. Further disruption was caused with the closure of the A6 due to cars being moved there away from the flames and water collecting there from the site.

The damage caused by the fire will have far reaching consequences to the businesses on the estate and our thoughts are with them. We are not insinuating there was any fault in the  and starting of these fires, but the size of this incident and the amount of disruption it caused to the number of people effected – businesses on the estate, local residents, drivers and fire fighters – really reminds us that fire safety is not just a responsibility to yourself, your employees and your clients but it is a responsibility to the larger community as well.

If you run a small business or an area the size of this Bedford Industrial Estate you probably have fire safety systems in place, it is a legal responsibility after all. If you feel that they are not up to scratch, if you do not have time to keep them up to date or stay on top of changes to the systems along with your business then we would be very happy to talk to you.

Accidents will happen unfortunately, but you can remove the chances of most fires happening and significantly reduce the chances of the rest purely by doing and regularly reviewing your fire risk assessments, installing the right fire fighting equipment, working out an emergency plan and training your staff, maintaining emergency exit routes.

If all of this seems like too much alongside your normal business practices or you are dissatisfied with your current support then we are here to help. Please contact us.