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| This is an image the two escalators in the Kings Cross Station , thelarger escalator,the Victoria tube line, on the right is where the lit match was dropped . The other is the picadilly tube line where the public were evacuated to. |
What happened
Based on the fennel report, At around 19:29 on the 18th of November 1987 a lit match was dropped through a wooden escalator, setting the built up dust, hairs and rubbish alight. The waste underneath the wooden escalator had not been cleaned. This is because the manager thought it would be a cheaper way to run the tube station if there was less cleaners. The fire started in the machine room, where there were many flammable liquids. The fire then was visible by the public on the escalator. Shortly, the fire was reported ten minutes after the cigarette was dropped. The staff of the ticket hall were the people who the public reported the fire and they were told it was small, the staff were told not to call the fire service on small fires and handled the fire as a minor precaution although the machine room was now a massive blazing fire .The staff concentrated on redirecting the public from the escalator above the machine room on fire (The Piccadilly Tube line) to the second escalator (The Victoria Tube line).The fire eventually got to the stage were smoke was leaking into the ticket room. The ticket hall had been letting people through for another eight minutes. The smoke was getting thick so they had to be evacuated. The exit went to the ground floor but when the people got to the gate it was locked, the only way out of the tube line was back into the ticket hall. It was now 19:45 and completely black with smoke. It was now a flash over, a flash over is where a fire in a enclosed and insulated place. The temperature was over 600 degrees, so the people who went back sadly died or were servery injured. The trains had been alerted after 34 minutes.
Colin Townsley is one of the 31 people who died. He was the person who went back into the smoke filled tunnels to make sure the people in the station get out, if Colin would of not gone back into the station he may be alive today. Like Colin the firefighters went in to help the people in the station. Although the fire fighters were using breathable equipment the fire fighters were in the station for one and a half hours. As the air was being used for that time it begin to run out. The fire in Kings Cross Station started with as little as a match foolishly dropped down a wooden escalator at 19:29 and spread into most of the station that killed 31 people including one fireman. The massive fire was distinguished at about 01:00.
The Public Services
Within the Public Services all have an individual role that they should stick to, for example the first on a scene should report it to the other services telling them what public services are needed and the number of casualties.
The Police's role in a major incident is to gather witness's to be able to get possible suspects, also they would stop other civilians getting involved at putting them and others in danger by; Cordoning off traffic and preserving/securing the crime scene. In this case the police would have made sure there were no more civilians going in to the station and informing the other services the location and what services are required for the fire.
The Fire Fighters role is to firstly see if it is safe to go in the building, if it is they would then go in and put the fire out. After that they would search for and other indications of problems within the building and clear them. they would evacuate any personnel still in the station who are liable to survive from the building. In this case they got in to the building, evacuating the station and put out the fire.
The paramedics are to aid and provide medical equipment on scene and to the injured, they are to transport the civilians to a hospital, they would inform the NHS of the number of casualties so they are ready for when the arrive to the hospital.While establishing the triage point which is to help the most needing first and others after.The paramedics would also get other aiding services such as trauma teams to help certain injured people. In this case they aided the 50 injured and transported them to the hospitals.
- If there was no smoking in the building, if there was no smoking allowed in the station there would have less chance of someone dropping a lit match down the escalator.
- If there was no more wooden escalators, if there was only metal escalators the fire would not of spread in to the ticket hall as fast.
- A fire plan and staff training, if the staff was mentally ready for situations involving fire they could have put out the fire before the fire spread.
- Fire exits, the reason most people died was because one of the fire routes was locked.
- Over head lighting, if there was over head lighting the tunnels would have been brighter and more easier to see people in the distance.
Bibliography
I did some of my research on the Kings Cross fire on the Internet and these are some of the URLs that I used;
http://www.firetactics.com/KINGSCROSS.htm
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1989/apr/12/kings-cross-fire-fennell-report
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1989/apr/12/kings-cross-fire-fennell-report
http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DoT_KX1987.pdf
The rest of my research was based on the two DVD's I watched while at college.
The rest of my research was based on the two DVD's I watched while at college.
