Cameron House: Men tried to smash window to escape fire

Simon Midgley, right, and Richard Dyson, left, died in the Cameron House fire

Two men who died in the Cameron House fire tried to smash a window to escape the flames, an inquiry has heard.

Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner, Richard Dyson, 38, from London were guests at the Loch Lomond hotel during the blaze on 18 December 2017.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into their deaths is being held at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Gary Love, a fire investigator, said he found evidence the couple had tried to use a picture frame to break a window.

The 57-year-old was describing the area of the hotel where the men's bodies were found.

A fire tore through Cameron House Hotel on 18 December 2017

He said: "I noted that a large picture frame was on its side, directly below the window of the second floor landing."

He added that the "frame had been prised from the adjacent wall, most likely with the intention to be used to smash the window".

The now retired investigator for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, told Crown Counsel Graeme Jessop that the men had been trying to break through a laminated double-glazed window.

He said it could not be opened, and they had managed to break through one pane.

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Night porter Christopher O'Malley discovered the flames in the concierge cupboard - where he had left a bag of ash next to kindling and newspapers.

Mr Love told the inquiry his investigation found evidence of a galvanised bucket, kindling and a shovel in the cupboard.

He said more than 75% of the main building of the 128-room hotel had been "severely damaged" in the incident, and the fire had caused the majority of the roof to collapse.

Mr Love said his conclusion was the fire was accidental and was most probably the cause of a careless act.

"Ashes have a low thermal conductivity, consequently it's not rare for individuals to believe ashes are dead, while in reality hot or smouldering embers are still contained within," he added.

Family of three trapped

The inquiry also heard from Andy Logan, a guest who was trapped in his room with his wife Louise and son Jimmy.

They went to the hotel two days after he and his wife married in Worcester.

After hearing the hotel's pre-alarm, Mr Logan said he opened his door and saw a "wall of smoke" and decided to stay in the room and protect his family until the fire brigade arrived.

However, after the power went out, Mr Logan said he began to doubt his decision and broke their window with a chair.

They were rescued by firefighters who had climbed up to the room by ladders.

The court was also show CCTV footage of the moment the fire was discovered by Christopher O'Malley

Darren Robinson, the night manager at the time of the fire, said he did not know the plastic bag of ash had been put in the cupboard until he saw the footage.

He said leaving the ash was "not something he would have done" as it was a fire risk.

When the source of the fire was found, he put down his fire marshal pack and list of guests, and picked up a fire extinguisher.

But he told the court that at this moment he felt there "was no point", adding "it was too big and it was more important to get people out".

Darren Robinson was the Cameron House night manager at the time of the fire

A member of the public can also be seen in the footage trying to fight the fire with an extinguisher. Mark Stewart QC, acting for O'Malley - who later admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act - told the court his client was a "conscientious" and "diligent employee".

He said to Mr Robinson: "When that alarm went off you asked Mr O'Malley to go and investigate. That's what we saw happening on the video as he rushed out in the reception area slightly ahead of you.

When smoke was detected, staff had three minutes to work out the cause, and the inquiry was told O'Malley's actions were "instrumental" in making the decision for Mr Robinson to trigger the full alarm.

The inquiry also heard that O'Malley had told Mr Robinson the ash bins were full and that the night manager had emailed other staff at the hotel requesting that the bins be emptied.

Fire safety breaches

On Monday the inquiry heard hotel guests had to be physically stopped from going back into the burning building to save a young family.

Cameron House was ordered to pay £500,000 after admitting to breaches of fire safety rules and O'Malley was given a community payback order.

The Crown Office initially said an FAI was not needed because the circumstances of the fatalities had been established - but a review overturned the decision after Mrs Midgley, from Pudsey in Leeds, called for wider lessons to be learned.

A coroner in England ruled that the couple were unlawfully killed and raised concerns that he had not been allowed access to documents and CCTV footage by Scottish authorities.

The FAI is expected to last about three weeks.