Sprinkler campaign after fire deaths
Nottinghamshire's Chief Fire Officer has joined the campaign for sprinklers to be fitted in new homes after the deaths of the six Philpott children in a a fire in Derby.
Frank Swann warns that an ageing population will lead to more people dying in house fires in coming years.
“The tragic incident in Derby has further highlighted the need for domestic sprinklers.
"The smoke alarm did its job in alerting some of the occupants to the fire -however, we believe that sprinklers could have protected those unable to escape.
“Enough is enough. Quite simply these losses of life are avoidable.
"We don’t ever want to have to report a similar incident happening here in Nottinghamshire."
He says, "If we wait for 25 years for evidence to say we should have introduced the widespread fitting of sprinklers - at current rates a further 8,000 people will have died in that time and 185,000 will have been seriously injured."
– Frank Swann, Nottinghamshire's Chief Fire Officer“Wales has already introduced legislation which will see all new-build domestic properties fitted with sprinklers as standard.
"It’s time England followed suit and we’d urge the people of Nottinghamshire to push this issue with their local councillors and MPs.
"When people are needlessly dying, doing nothing is not an option."
People are being encouraged to pledge their support for the campaign by signing an online e-petition - if the petition receives the backing of 100,000 people it could be debated in Parliament.
Sixty police officers try to solve fire deaths
A team of 60 police officers are working to find those responsible for an arson attack which killed six children in Derby two weeks ago.
House fire victims' inquests due to open
Inquests will open this morning into the deaths of six children who died in a house fire in Derby a week ago.
Mick and Mairead Philpott attend press conference
Mick and Mairead Philpott addressed the media today following a house fire that killed six of their children.