Cameron House: Night porter did not think ash started hotel fire

Night porter Christopher O'Malley gave evidence to a Fatal Accident Inquiry over the Cameron House blaze

A night porter at Cameron House hotel has told an inquiry it did not occur to him that putting a bag of ash in a cupboard could have started a fire.

Christopher O'Malley, 37, previously admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act in a criminal case over the blaze at the Loch Lomond resort in 2017.

The fire claimed the lives of Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley.

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

O'Malley told the inquiry that he did not tell police he put a bag of ash from a log fire in a concierge's cupboard at the time of the fire.

He said it did not come to him until later that this could have been the cause.

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The inquiry heard O'Malley placed the bag next to a sack of kindling at about 03:50 on 18 December 2017.

He said the ash bins outside were full and he had reported this to the night manager both that morning and the morning before.

O'Malley said he and the night manager had been in an office at about 06:30 when an alarm went off.

He said he checked the log fire in reception and went up the main staircase when he saw smoke coming from the main reception area.

He told the inquiry he opened the concierge cupboard door and saw flames.

The fire tore through Cameron House Hotel on 18 December 2017

Although he said he tried to use a fire extinguisher, but added that he did not know how to activate it. Meanwhile, O'Malley said the night manager called the fire brigade.

O'Malley then knocked on guests' doors in the accommodation block, the inquiry heard. Because the power failed, he said he physically led guests to the fire exit and the assembly point outside.

The inquiry then heard about the training O'Malley had received while he was working at Cameron House - where he had been employed as a night porter since April 2017.

He claimed to have undertaken a variety of different online training courses and was shown by a more experienced colleague when he started where the fire exits were and how often he would have to check them during the evening.

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O'Malley claimed he had not received training on roll-call procedures, evacuations or fire safety while working at the hotel.

He was asked if he received training on clearing the ashes from the open fires in Cameron House.

O'Malley claimed he was shown by "another night porter" how to clear the ashes one evening and that porter used a chafing dish to clear the ashes.

He was asked by the inquiry if they were provided with any other equipment or training on disposing of the ashes.

O'Malley responded he had "no training whatsoever".

Community payback order

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 an FAI 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.