Primark Fire Fighter Reflects On Blaze

On the first anniversary of the Primark blaze, the firefighter in charge of the operation has reflected on the incident as one that will remain with him forever.

The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) thanked firefighters, support staff, partner agencies and the community for their response and support during the incident on 28 August 2018.

The first report of the blaze was recorded at around 11am. What unfolded over the following four days saw over 300 firefighters work tirelessly to extinguish the blaze, prevent fire spread to adjacent buildings and prevent loss of life or injury. The multi-agency response resulted in the new thirty thousand square foot rear section of Bank Buildings (formerly known as Common Wealth House) being protected, with Primark opening for business before Christmas 2018.

The NIFRS also mobilised 351 appliances to more than 250 other locations across Northern Ireland during the Belfast blaze, ensuring normal service delivery and public safety was maintained across this challenging timeframe.

The officer in charge that day was Area Commander Aidan Jennings. Reflecting on the job, he said: "Like many people the 28 August and the four days that followed will remain with me forever. I will remember this incident for the expertise, resilience and dedication of firefighters and staff right across NIFRS as well as the outpouring of kindness, generosity and public–spiritedness. This underpinned and helped reinforce our operational response to this incident. As ever the resilience of the people of Belfast was matched by the action and support they offered."

At the height of the incident, over 100 firefighters, 14 appliances and six specialist appliances were involved in tackling the blaze. Firefighters from as far away as Armagh and Kilrea responded to the incident with both wholetime and on-call personnel, being brought in from other areas to attend the incident and provide resilience in Belfast during this time.

Mr Jennings continued: "The size, scope and intensity of this fire provided many challenges and I can vividly recall that iconic image of the clock in Bank Buildings burning and the impact that had on our personnel working so hard to save the building.

"On a number of occasions that afternoon firefighters had to be withdrawn from internal firefighting operations within the building to prevent injury or loss of life due to escalating fire conditions and collapsing structure. Thankfully we were able to re-enter and establish the fire break within the protected staircases.

"Working in extra ordinary and challenging circumstances firefighters protected this area and are to be highly commended for their diligent efforts in preventing the fire spreading allowing the refurbished rear extension of the building and adjacent properties to be saved.

"Primark staff must also be commended for their swift action in evacuating the building prior to the arrival of firefighters. Their actions undoubtedly helped save lives that day enabling the first responding crews to focus on dealing with the developing blaze."

Mr Jennings said the incident, while it is thankfully an usual one, served to reinforce the credibility of their response and resilience plans.

An extensive NIFRS investigation report in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive later determined that the cause of the fire was accidental.

"In large part due to our work in fire prevention and safety, large incidents like the Bank Buildings fire are rare. However, if they do occur, NIFRS is always prepared to respond quickly and effectively. Our contingency plans and resilience built into our operational response ensures that as a fire and rescue service we are always ready to respond to any incident across Northern Ireland," Mr Jennings concluded.



(JG/MH)