#fire-safety

#fire-safety

If you're not prepared, you aren't doomed to sit in darkness until the power is restored. You can easily make an emergency candle to use temporarily during a power outage, either until your lights are turned back on or just to help you find your flashlights and batteries. All you need is two pantry staples: rice and olive oil. One of olive oil's many uses throughout history was for ancient oil lamps.

An east London authority is set to spend almost 6m fixing fire safety faults at two recently completed council-backed housing and commercial developments. The issues include missing back-up power supplies at a block of 156 affordable homes, and sprinkler system problems at an industrial scheme that have left many business units unlettable. London Borough of Barking and Dagenham documents show the problems have delayed occupation, limited rental income and forced costly retrofits funded by taxpayers.

An additional 116 people were injured, many of them seriously, when the fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar on Jan. 1. Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections hadn't been carried out since 2019.

At a press conference on Friday, Valais canton Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said investigators were interviewing witnesses and would review video evidence to determine whether a bar that went up in flames in the early hours of 2026 had the correct fire safety procedures and emergency exits. Officials have not said whether the bar had the two escape routes required under Swiss fire and building codes or whether those exits were usable at the time of the fire.

A fire at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year's Day has left about 40 people dead and over 100 injured, according to authorities. Here is a look at some other nightclub, bar and music venue fires that have led to significant death tolls: December 2025: A fire ripped through a popular nightclub in Arpora village, in India's Goa state, killing 25 people, including kitchen workers and tourists.

Investigators believe the fire was accidental and caused by an unattended candle placed near combustible materials. Around 40 firefighters and six fire engines responded to the blaze on Stockwell Lane in Stockwell on Monday evening when the fire broke out in a four-room maisonette on the second and third floors of a four-storey building. Part of the property was damaged, with two people treated on the scene by the London Ambulance Service for smoke inhalation.

David Jones, president of the Institute of Construction Management, says the guidance for multi-storey residential buildings is "loose", "spineless" and "open to interpretation". He argues it permits too many "tolerable" risks - for example, allowing flammable materials in window systems and between floors to remain even if they could let fire spread. "It's allowing developers to game the system," the veteran of more than 50 years says, adding that making it law would be an "absolute abomination".

The committee of a sports and social club that caters for Aer Lingus and DAA staff has voted not to shut its function rooms despite a recommendation that the building be closed due to fire and safety issues. ALSAA's large event rooms are expected to play host over Christmas to a number of events, including a 200-person wedding, as well as a planned eight-hour New Year's Eve bash until 4am, with patrons allowed to bring their own alcohol.

I think it brings a lot of benefits," District 3 Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, a key backer of the reforms, told San José Spotlight. "It means that we can build multifamily housing on more small parcels - close to downtown, close to our transit networks - that are currently really difficult to build under the current building codes.

All of the lights on the tree do come with a risk.

The building's residents evacuated themselves prior to the arrival of firefighters at 9:32 p.m., authorities said. When the firefighters arrived, they saw smoke coming from a condo on the second floor of a three-story building. Water was also flowing from two sprinkler heads. Firefighters used thermal imaging to make sure that the fire did not spread, authorities said. The firefighters also shut off the sprinkler heads and carried out salvage operations to remove excess water from the building and prevent further property damage.

The CARELESS disposal of this cigarette caused a major explosion, injuring seven firefighters. Five of them were treated for serious burns to their arms and face, the FDNY posted on X. NEVER flick your cigarette butts! Properly extinguish cigarettes BEFORE throwing them away. The CARELESS disposal of this cigarette caused a major explosion, injuring seven firefighters. Five of them were treated for serious burns to their arms and face.NEVER flick your cigarette butts! Properly extinguish cigarettes BEFORE throwing them away. For more safety tips, pic.twitter.com/lvSIap2xFB FDNY (@FDNY) November 7, 2025 The explosion took place shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday at Westchester Ave. and Fox St. in Longwood. Three vehicles, including a firetruck, were also damaged in the blast.

Managing residential or commercial properties in London comes with significant responsibilities. Among the most important of these is ensuring that all buildings meet essential safety compliance standards. Whether you oversee a block of flats, an office complex, or mixed-use spaces, compliance is not only a legal requirement but also vital for protecting lives and property. Understanding key safety steps can help property managers maintain safe environments and reduce risks effectively.

Home renovation projects usually start with ideas about what would work well for the space. A kitchen extension with lots of glass to bring in light. A loft conversion with skylights to make the new room bright. An extra floor that maximizes the footprint of the existing building. These plans make sense from a design perspective, but they don't always account for the regulations that determine what's actually allowed.

Fire safety inspections can bring construction projects to a halt when riser cupboards don't meet code requirements. The frustrating part is that many failures stem from the same recurring mistakes that installers make project after project. These aren't complicated issues-they're basic installation errors that happen when people don't fully understand what inspectors are looking for. Understanding these common problems helps contractors avoid expensive callbacks and project delays. More importantly, it ensures fire safety systems will actually work when firefighters need them during emergencies.

It followed a tip-off to authorities that a frightening cache of pyrotechnics were being flogged off by an unlicensed vendor to members of the public. Fireworks should only be purchased from sellers, such as supermarkets, and not from market stalls or sellers conducting transactions door-to-door. Newham Trading Standards obtained a warrant to search a self-contained flat in Forest Gate last week and found the goods Those caught illicitly selling or lighting fireworks risk being fined up to 5,000 or sentenced to six months in prison.

If you want to know what a home really looks like, ask a house cleaner. As professionals who tidy up and wipe off messes for a living, house cleaners know the truth of what's really clean and sanitary in bedrooms and kitchens. "People don't clean anything they or guests can't readily see," said Sara San Angelo, a house cleaner based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Flames ripped through the property based beside the Beckenham Odeon cinema on Tuesday morning with some 70 firefighters taking two-and-a-half hours to bring the blaze under control. Local business owner Chris Penfold said he had raised concerns about a wooden structure on the roof of the building and told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) it "was just a question of when, rather than if [a fire broke out]". The Met Police is investigating the cause of the fire and the council said it could not comment while this is taking place.

Toronto's fire chief is asking the federal government to increase regulation around lithium-ion batteries, calling battery fires related to e-bikes and e-scooters "the largest growing fire safety risk in the city." The batteries are commonly found in electric cars, laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices, but Chief Jim Jessop says their use in e-bikes and e-scooters is Toronto Fire's main concern.

We all want to minimize the risk of fire to our homes and communities, but the EMBER plan is a simplistic, one-size-fits-all response to fire preparedness. The EMBER plan promotes, among other recommendations, that all vegetation within 5 feet of the house be removed. Trees and plants near and around homes provide shade and insulation, keeping homes cooler. Cooler homes reduce the need for air conditioning, which is a contributor to greenhouse gases that contribute to conditions for extreme wildfires.

The blaze destroyed nearly everything they owned and displaced them from their home with just a few belongings in a matter of several hours, Evans told Hyperallergic in a phone call from a hotel where she is currently living. "There's a lot of things that went wrong," Evans said. "It was not like the movies where it's very clear it's an emergency," she added, recalling how the building's smoke alarms had not even gone off when she and her neighbors cleared their homes.

Sacred Heart Parish is holding a carnival with food, rides, live music and games on Sept. 12-13. Admission is free, and the carnival strives to provide something for everyone. Food booths at the carnival will offer barbecue, corn dogs, pizza, tacos and ice cream. Entertainment includes The Honey Wilders, Los Gatos Ballet and Shaolin Warrior Martial Arts. Raffle prizes include stud earrings by Joe Escobar Diamonds,

The Department of Agriculture has urged visitors to forests, parks, beaches and other recreation areas to not bring barbeques and other sources of ignition as vegetation fires pose a danger to resources and public safety.

The new ordinance allows accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, to be up to 1,200 square feet and 25 feet tall, regardless of attachment type. Rooftop decks are permitted with additional height allowances for safety railings.

“Firefighters do a great job with whatever staffing they have, but we saw in Fall River what can happen when you're not adequately staffed to standards.”