A supermarket in Birmingham city centre had to be evacuated after a fire managed to break out in a self-service checkout machine. The incident took place in a supermarket, a Tesco in New Street – located in Birmingham city centre – with a fire erupted during the lunchtime rush. West Midlands Ambulance Service were quick to respond and sent both paramedics and a hazard team to the scene, after reports of smoke and a possible chemical incident came flooding through. A spokesperson confirmed that there was one patient – believed to be an employee of Tesco – who was assessed and discharged accordingly. Shortly after 12:30 midday, the West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) picked up a call from the police informing them about the situation. The WMFS also stated that the fire was quite small, and was put out by the time a crew had actually arrived at the scene – though a small amount of people had been complaining about irritation as a result of it. Engineers from Tesco were in attendance, but a fire spokesperson said that the reason why the fire started is still unknown.

A Southern California fire has caused havoc at explosive speed after being pushed by incredibly powerful Santa Ana winds, to the point 26,000 acres have been covered by flames as of the 4th December, with thousands of citizens being forced to evacuate in darkness. In addition, one person has died in a rollover car crash while trying to flee from the flames, as announced by Mark Lorenzen – the Ventura Country Fire chief in a press briefing late on the 4th. Currently, there are close to 7786 homes in Ventura and Santa Paula which are under mandatory evacuation, with fire officials warning that the powerful winds could even turn the flames to the city of Ventura. What’s causing concern is that the fire is rapidly spreading, but doing so with 0% containment. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office commented on the fire, and were concerned about the nature of the blaze and the trouble crews are having at present. “The fire is still out of control and structures are threatened throughout the fire area,” they said. “Due to the intensity of the fire, crews are having trouble making access, but there are multiple reports of structures on fire.” Lorenzens also said that at least two structures have been completely lost. Ventura County Sheriff deputies were going round driving in neighbourhoods and knocking on doors, alerting residents of what was going on and warning them to evacuate. Susan Cox, a spokeswoman for Southern California Edison also said that the fire has burned down power lines, which has subsequently caused widespread outages in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, affecting over 260,000 people. The brush fire, which is being called the Thomas Fire, was initially reported at Steckel Park – just north of Santa Paula – at around 6:30pm, according to the initial reports given to the Ventura County Fire Department. While officials had earlier warned of extreme fire danger as a result of the Santa Ana winds, the fire ignited and travelled as fast as 40 to 60mph.Fire in California rages out of control and forces thousands to evacuate

Following a blaze in a neighbouring property in Shetland, located in Lerwick, Scotland, an elderly woman had to be taken to safety by firefighters due to the nature of the fire. Fire crews were called to a house in North Road in Lerwick shortly after midnight on the 4th December, with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stating that three appliances were dispatched to the scene to put the flames out. Shortly after 02:30, the fire was extinguished, however the fire managed to affect the roof space of the property and the living room before being put out. Thankfully, no-one was harmed during the incident.

A host of residents have been forced to evacuate after a fire broke out in an Indian restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s understood that no-one that was living in the four-storey tenement building was injured from the blaze, however road closures were aplenty as a result. The Scottish Fire and Rescue service later confirmed that there were 10 fire appliances and two aerial appliance sent to the scene in order to extinguish the flames, which was never the junction with Kingarth Street. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is also the local MSP, tweeted about the incident and said that her thoughts with those impacted. “My thoughts with those affected by the fire at Kebabish in my constituency,” Sturgeon tweeted. “@GovanhillBaths is open for anyone needing immediate shelter. Anyone who needs my assistance should get in touch in the normal ways.” Shortly after the fire broke out, Austin Sheridan – the former Glasgow City Councillor – was on the scene, and was on hand to tweet about the incident. Sheridan tweeted: “Bad Fire at Kebabish on Victoria Road in Govanhill. Staff had to break down close door next to it to warn residents of fire.” Later, Sheridan added: “Emergency services must be commended on their response to the fire at Kebsbish on Victoria Road. Just by chance a CID police officer was passing by and assisted Kebabish staff with alerting residents in the building next to the shop of fire before the fire service arrived.” In addition to this, Sheridan also stated that the fire had spread to some of the flats above the restaurant, and claimed the situation was “worse than I first thought”. A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) spokesman was on hand to offer comment, and said: “The SFRS is currently in attendance at a large fire that has taken hold within a restaurant and is now affecting flats within an above four storey tenement building on Victoria Road, Glasgow.”

Two men have been arrested in connection with a blaze which took place in Annan, Scotland in November. The arrests follows an incident which took place on the town’s Northfield Park, which saw both a house and a car destroyed by fire in the early hours of the morning on the 6th November. Scottish Police revealed that two men – one aged 22 and the other 33, with both residing from Dumfries – had been arrested as a result. A very brief statement on the issue revealed that a report had been sent to the procurator fiscal. As of yet, the two have not been named.

The Northern Ireland Fire Service have decreed that a fire which started in a derelict property in Lurgan, County Armagh, was started intentionally. The town high street has now reopened following the fire, which broke out on the 26th November, with firefighters being called out to the fire at around 04:30, according to the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Group Commander, Max Joyce. Initially, it had been reported that a bin or some rubbish was on fire, however it rapidly spread to the roof. ​Speaking about the fire, Joyce explained how assistance was sought after from other stations due to the nature of it, while condemning those who started the fire. “It is an old property with a complex layout and the fire spread quickly,” Joyce said. “We asked for assistance from other stations which meant we had pumps from Dromore, Banbridge and a support unit from Lisburn, and two aerial platforms, one from Belfast and one from Portadown. “The people who set the fire put fire fighters lives, and the lives of the public, at extreme risk.” Adding further comment, Joyce said that it was a rather large-scale operation, with 33 firefighters getting actively involved to prevent the fire spreading to other buildings.

After tackling a fire on the sixth floor of a tower block on the 24th November – which sprinklers are yet to be fitted in – a firefighter sustained injury and needed medical treatment. At around 18:30, the fire broke out from inside one of the kitchens in the flats in Cumberland Towers, which is located at Norwich Road in Ipswich. Close to 30 firefighters from Suffolk and Essex attended the fire scene in an attempt to neutralise the blaze, and some of those firefighters rescued an elderly man inside the flat. The man was taken to hospital for treatment. Speaking after the blaze, the fire service stated that the firefighter in question who rescued the elderly man – who was the first into the flat – also needed medical treatment for breathing in substantial amounts of smoke at the scene. Unlike the elderly man however, the firefighter didn’t need to go to hospital after being treated by attending paramedics at the scene. Will Tel, the Suffolk Fire and Rescue group commander, has said that an investigation has begun into finding out the cause of the fire. Prior to the fire, the tower block was undergoing a £1m refurbishment, with Ipswich’s MP – Sandy Martin – declaring that there are plans to install sprinklers in the building, partially because of the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster in June.

FireAngel has launched a new and improved website that not only allows visitors quicker and simpler access to its growing range of technologies, but also a dedicated Fire & Rescue Services section that offers technical information and installation advice. The new state-of-the-art Fire & Rescue Services platform has a host of interactive features, including a virtual tour of FireAngel’s R&D facilities, installation videos, troubleshooting videos, an automated returns process for the Fire and Rescue Service and a detailed guide of how to dispose of end of life alarms. The website also provides detailed product information on FireAngel’s broad offering of smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms, as well as its trade specific brand, SONA by FireAngel. Innovative features include a specification generator that allows users to create a customized, pre-written specification document built around their required level of protection, as well as an energy calculator that highlights the energy savings FireAngel’s mains powered smoke alarms offer over its lifetime. James King, Sales Director at FireAngel, commented: “At FireAngel, we are constantly sourcing feedback from our customers as to how we can improve the level of service we offer. We maintain a strong commitment to customer support and the launch of the new website is the latest move to compliment that.” For more information on the FireAngel and its range of smoke, heat and CO alarms, please call 0800 141 2561 or visit www.fireangel.co.uk.

A highly anticipated book charting the modern history of the Fire Service from 1997 to 2015 has been published, authored by Peter Murphy and Kirsten Greenhalgh from Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham. The book, Fire and Rescue Services: Leadership and Management Perspectives highlights a tumultuous period in the management of the Fire Service, and, given the current challenges and changes, is intended to be read with one eye to the future as well as the past. As well as studying the contemporary history of the service in England the book also focuses on several examples where Fire Service management is rapidly improving, such as Sweden and Scotland. The changing nature of modern day emergencies has left the Fire Service behind when it comes to management and efficiencies, and as such, means a lot of improvement is needed to adequately protect the public. Professor Peter Murphy, Director of the Public Policy and Management Research Group at Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University and co-editor of the book, said: “This book analyses the modern history of the management of the Fire Service but is really intended to influence the leadership and management, of the service going forward. It’s no secret that the service faces challenges in terms of changing patterns of risks and meeting the government’s efficiencies targets. Firefighters just haven’t been given the support and resources they need to do their job and protect our communities and we need to fix this as a matter of urgency. Kirsten Greenhalgh, associate professor of accounting at Nottingham University Business School and co-editor of the book, said: “Emergencies in today’s societies are more complex than ever before, and because the fire service has suffered from fragmentation of collective leadership, this leaves the public at risk from major disasters such as Grenfell. We hope that the content in this book will help to inform leadership and management within the Fire Service community so that we can once again hold it as a shining example to the rest of the world.” Alongside the co-editors, the book contains various specialist chapters written by some of the most respected academics across the UK with Fire and Rescue Services expertise. The book is on sale now and is available from www.springer.com