By John Robertson
The Scotsman
EDINBURGH, Scotland — A damages action by the family of a dead firefighter raises “fundamental issues” about the approach to tackling serious blazes, a court has heard.
The relatives of Ewan Williamson, 35, who died in a fire in a pub in Edinburgh in 2009, have made a series of allegations of negligence against a senior officer.
Lothian and Borders Fire & Rescue Board denies the claims against Watch Commander Tim Foley, and wants the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to be heard by a judge, rather than have a jury decide whether up to GBP700,000 in compensation should be paid to Mr Williamson’s mother and two sisters.
At a preliminary hearing, Alan Cowan, solicitor-advocate for the board, said the opposition to a jury trial was related to the complexity of the basis on which the family sought to establish liability.
He added: “It raises fundamental issues as to the approach to firefighting.”
The fire in the Balmoral Bar, Dalry Road, broke out in a basement office, and Mr Williamson and a colleague went in wearing breathing apparatus but found zero visibility and extreme heat, the court was told.
They could not locate the fire and went back upstairs.
Ten minutes later, they were sent back in by Mr Foley, who ordered windows to be smashed to clear smoke, it was said.
Mr Williamson’s colleague arrived at the entrance to the bar and thought he was immediately behind him, but Mr Williamson made a radio call to Mr Foley, stating: “I’ll be there in a minute, boss, I think I’m stuck in a toilet.” In another call, he said: “I’m stuck. I’m stuck.”
Mr Williamson could not be found and an emergency was declared.
Officers reached the toilets, but could not push open the door because Mr Williamson was behind it. The floor collapsed and the emergency team had to retreat.
It took another 27 minutes to effect entry to the toilets by cutting through security grating on an external window. Mr Williamson was rushed to hospital, but was declared dead.
“On ascending the stairs for the second time, he was confused and suffering from heat exhaustion... he turned towards the toilets instead of towards the entrance of the bar,” said the written pleadings for Linda Williamson, 69, of Kinross, Mr Williamson’s mother, and Rachel Williamson, 45, of California, and Rebecca Williamson, 41, of Stourbridge, West Midlands, his sisters.
They alleged it ought to have been obvious to Mr Foley that the seat of the fire was not going to be found and it was pointless to further risk the lives of firefighters to tackle the blaze in the basement. Also, Mr Williamson had been given only ten minutes to recover, insufficient time after his first entry to the basement.
“Ventilating the fire by smashing windows ... made the task of those fighting the fire in the basement more dangerous,” it was also claimed. “Mr Foley failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of the deceased and by his failures caused the death of the deceased.”
The board denied Mr Foley had been negligent in his handling of the situation, and Lord Stewart gave it more time to lodge full written submissions. There will be another hearing on a date still to be fixed.
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