Following a recent fire at the Alexandra Hotel in Llandudno, the hotelier blamed guests for flouting no smoking rules.
Although the purpose of smoke-free legislation is for health protection rather than fire prevention, does he have a point? Should smoking legislation have wider implications, and what protection is already provided for by the law?
Aftermath
John Humberstone’s hotel, The Alexandra in Llandudno, Conwy, was partly destroyed by a fire that began in a guest’s room. The Grade II listed building’s roof was badly damaged in the blaze. A number of ceilings fell down and lower floors also suffered water damage in the incident.
Fortunately, no one was killed or injured. A saving factor may have been the fact that the fire broke out at 8:00 p.m. rather than later in the night when guests would have been asleep. Nevertheless, as we recently reported, hotel fires can cause significant risk to fire fighters who may need to search the building if there’s any doubt whether it’s been completely vacated.
As the building was so old and five storeys tall, the risks would certainly have been higher than in a modern building.
Mr. Humberstone believes that the difficulty of enforcing the hotel’s no-smoking policy was partly to blame for the fire, arguing that stricter measures are needed to reduce the risk of similar events occurring in the future. He said:
I would like to see very severe legislation introduced by parliament, not a by-law from the local authority.
The difference is that a drink-driver can kill two, three or four people in a car crash and a smoker can kill maybe hundreds in a hotel fire.
Individual liability
The story and the statement from the owner raises an interesting legal point. Could a smoker be found liable, within the existing legal framework, for causing a fire?
The question would be whether the guest’s actions were negligent. There’s no case law precedent to suggest that simply by smoking in a legally designated smoke-free place, a smoker is negligent. So it would probably come down to what they did or did not do with the lit cigarette, matches, lighter,, etc.
Did they take reasonable care to avoid a fire?
Given the lack of past cases where smokers have been found liable, it would seem that the behaviour would have to be grossly negligent or deliberate for the case to be found against them. In theory, the smoker could face manslaughter charges or a rebuild bill for the premises, but that’s going to be a very rare outcome.
It’s interesting that the fire occurred in Wales, where mandatory sprinkler legislation has recently been introduced for new build homes. Despite Mr. Humberstone’s wishes, it would seem more likely that the Welsh Assembly would in future mandate sprinklers for higher risk premises such as five-storey grade II listed hotels, than they would impose stricter penalties on smokers who ignore smoke-free laws.
And surely there’s enough scope for businesses to enforce the existing laws themselves — hotels, for example, tend to levy a “room cleaning charge” that is generally so high it is sufficient incentive for folks to go outside for their cigarettes.
Corporate liability
And what about the hotel manager? Where would they stand if they had permitted guests or staff to smoke? Would their insurance stand up?
That would depend on the terms and conditions of the building insurance and the extent of the manager’s complacency. But in a specific instance like this where the smoking took place in a room, out of sight of staff, it wasn’t reasonable to expect them to notice or take action anyway. There could, however, be scope in other circumstances, if there was a culture of permitting smoking.
How about the criminal liability? Could an owner, manager, or business face charges for a fire caused by smoking? Clearly the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and equivalent legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland requires the assessment of fire risk and action to be taken to control the fire hazards identified. And smoking is one of the hazards that ought to be addressed. Turning a blind eye to smoking where it created an obvious risk of fire could well form part of a criminal prosecution.
It would seem there is sufficient legislation in place to enforce smoking rules for the purposes of fire prevention. Do you agree or do you, like the hotelier described here, think there should be severe penalties?
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This is a really interesting story and I understand the hotelier’s frustration. But sometimes I think we’re quick to ask for new laws when there may be existing ones that cover the situation. I can’t see how the act of smoking caused the fire. According to the United States Department of Agriculture statistics, the number of lit cigarettes at any given time (worldwide) is over 10 million; over 5-1/2 trillion cigarettes are manufactured in a year and presumably all of them are smoked. So, people successfully smoke all the time without burning anything down. That leaves negligence, as you… Read more »
That’s a good way to consider these recent events, Robert. I think smokers should have a certain degree of liability for breaking the rules but the hotelier or the institution should have precautions and the measures to allow smokers to smoke…without, as Robert said, burning the building down.
I think smoker should be careful about spreading fire. It would be really difficult to make a law for hotel to be smoking-free because it will definitely affect the business of hotel. In my opinion, self-consciousness is the only solution to avoid this sort of problem
hotelier or the institution should have precautions and the measures to allow smokers to smoke
@Hazel Chua, I agree with you. If hoteliers band smoking inside the hotel premises then it will definitely have an impact on their business. I think they can create a special smoking zone where it would be safe for the smokers to smoke without causing much safety concerns.