Cameron House: Porter given ash warning days before hotel fire

The fire tore through Cameron House Hotel on 18 December 2017

A night manager at Cameron House told an inquiry she warned a night porter not to use a plastic bag to empty ash three days before a fatal fire.

Ann Rundell said Christopher O'Malley - another night porter who put a plastic bag of ash in a cupboard which led to the fire - was "within earshot" at the time.

The blaze in 2017 claimed the lives of Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is taking place at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Ms Rundell was not working on the morning the inferno took hold at the luxury resort on 18 December 2017.

However she said she was "absolutely horrified" when she saw a porter clearing out the ashes of a log fire using a plastic bin bag in the early hours of 15 December.

Ann Rundell gave evidence to the fatal accident inquiry

Ms Rundell told Paisley Sheriff Court she used strong language when she challenged night porter Raymond Burns about what he was doing.

She said he knew not to do it again.

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In 2016, an independent fire safety company wrote a report on Cameron House which said there was no written policy to explain the correct way to empty hot ash from open fires.

The following year, Veteran Fire Safety highlighted there still was not a written procedure in place.

The inquiry heard the Cameron House resort director challenged this and sent an email to a risk and safety manager, stating that all actions had been completed.

The company accepted his version of events and issued a new report.

Staff to use 'common sense'

During Ms Rundell's evidence, the court heard that staff received no formal training on clearing the embers from the log fires Cameron House had in their grill, bar and reception area.

Ms Rundell said equipment was not maintained and staff would often have to obtain chafing dishes and ice buckets from other parts of the hotel.

She also told the court she did not recall being given an instruction not to store flammable materials in the concierge's cupboard, where items such as newspaper and kindling were kept.

The court also heard that night staff working at the hotel did not participate in fire drills regularly.

Ms Rundell said staff were expected to "use common sense" and learned through "word of mouth" what they were expected to do in the event of an emergency.

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

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court in January 2021 Cameron House was ordered to pay £500,000 after admitting to breaches of fire safety rules.

O'Malley admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was given a community payback order.

The Crown Office initially said a fatal accident inquiry was not needed because the circumstances of the fatalities had been established - but a review overturned the decision after Simon Midgley's mother, Jane Midgley, 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 inquiry continues.