Electrical fire at a pub

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I was at a pub today pricing a job and watched a spark trying to determine if the fire had been started by an electrical fault.

He looked at the charred wood and the remains of the wiring. Without even testing anything or even touching anything he told the the insurance guy that the fire had been started by an electrical fault :eek: The insurance guy said fine, he didn't even ask how he came to his conclusion.

I stood there in amazement and though this guy must be telepathic or something. he waffled on about the lack of any fire alarm or smoke detecters and said he was certain the fire had been caused by an electrical fault. in a storage area above the cellar.

What he didn't know and i did, was that the fire had started in no less than 5 different areas of the pub according to the fire officer, One in a bin behind the bar, one up a balcony about 8 meters from the other another around a wooden spindle area around the balcony where four used disposable lighters were found by the fire brigade. Also the land lord had been suffering from depression after his recent marriage breakup and had been sectioned after the fire under the mental health act.

Ok im NOT a qualified spark, i have dabbled a little but how the flipping heck can you tell if it started by an electrical fault in the 5 mins he was there, 2 of which was spent trying to get his torch to work and without even isolating the effected area and switching on the electricity...

I told the spark this after we all left the building and the fire officer and insurance guy had left, He looked a little worried and said " well its difficult when the area is so badly fire damaged but you can clearly see wires with no insulation. :LOL: I thought well thats pretty obvious after the place has just burned down.
 
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So more false statistics to skew the overall picture on electrical fires!!!

I know a Senior Fire Officer and he once told me that if there is no obvious cause to a fire then it is recorded as an electrical fault as the fire service don't have the resources to carry out a full forensic examination.
 
maybe the spark was a friend of the landlord, or just been paid to say it was electrical so he could get his insurance!?!
 
The spark works on a regular bassis for the brewery, maybe he thought if he said all this then he could tender for a full rewire and fitment of fire alarms ?

I got the plastering job so i'm happy :D
 
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diyisfree said:
The spark works on a regular bassis for the brewery, maybe he thought if he said all this then he could tender for a full rewire and fitment of fire alarms ?

:D

The brewery will be more certain to get the insurance if its an "electrical "fire. Arson may be more difficult.....

TTC
 
Yeah i thought that

But there is no way i would be prepared to put my name to something like that.

I guess because the landlord has been committed then the brewery cant sue him for the cost of repairs. Only way to ensure the place is sorted is to get a dodgy spark in who will say what you like for a few quid.

Edit

I am in no way suggesting you lovely guys on here do anything like this of course
 
diyisfree said:
I got the plastering job so i'm happy :D
Presumably you said that the fire was caused by a plastering fault? :D
 
The brewery's insurance almost certainly covers them for 'arson' anyway. To refuse the claim they'd probably have to prove

a) arson
b) that it was an employee of the company that did it
c) complicity on the part of the company, not just a landlord who'd gone off his nut

virtually impossible.....

Wrong forum to bore with why, but possible the brewery won't get anything back from the insurer anyway.

Frankly there are so many fires in pubs (even more in nightclubs) I wonder why I ever go in them.....

OK I do :D
 

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