Two teenage girls were bailed on Sunday following the death of a firefighter in a Manchester blaze.
The fire broke out in Paul’s Hair World on Saturday afternoon, with around 60 firefighters responding. Two firefighters reportedly got into difficulty at around 8:35 p.m. and had to be rescued by colleagues and taken to hospital. Sadly, one of those firefighters, Stephen Hunt, died in hospital.
The family of the 38-year-old father of two described Hunt as “an old-fashioned gentleman” who “lived to serve his country.” As well as being a firefighter, Hunt also served with the Royal Signals regiment for seven years.
The other firefighter was kept in hospital overnight after suffering burns, but his condition is not life-threatening, according to a statement from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
County fire officer Steve McGuirk said:
We are devastated by the loss of one of our colleagues who has died in the line of duty.
We never expect to lose a colleague in this way and it brings home the dangers that our firefighters put themselves in every day to keep the community safe.
Stephen had been a dedicated firefighter since 2008 and we are all in a state of shock.
It is a very sad day for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and all our thoughts are with Stephen’s family and friends.
Details of exactly what happened are unclear at this stage but will be investigated thoroughly and independently.
Early reports suggest the fire could have been started by a cigarette. Two 15-year-old girls were arrested and bailed until September on suspicion of manslaughter as police and fire service enquiries continue.
GMFRS group manager Ian Bailey, who has been leading operations at the scene of the fire, said that he and his crews were “numb and feel utter despair.” Crews were still in attendance today looking for hotspots with thermal imaging cameras and dampening down.
GMFRS described the fire as a particularly difficult incident due to the complex layout of the building and the huge amount of combustible materials inside — hair products such as peroxide, for instance.
Area Manager Warren Pickstone said that crews faced difficult conditions because the fire started in the store room of the shop. Two members of staff were also treated for burns as they tried to fight the fire themselves.
Flags at police stations across Greater Manchester were flying at half mast on Monday in tribute to Officer Hunt. Meanwhile, the Fire Brigades Union’s general secretary, Matt Wrack, called for a thorough investigation into this “terrible incident.” The FBU continued to say that the investigation will draw on experience and expertise from across the country to ensure that it is completed carefully and methodically.
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The investigation sounds like it will be difficult at best. Aside from eyewitness accounts by the information given in the blog post it sounds like nailing down exactly what happened and how the fire spread is going to take some work.
I think that investigation should be carried out with full devotion and culprits should be brought to justice. This might be the only way to repay to an extent to the life lost by a brave fire fighter.
I agree that an investigation is in order especially to make note of how the fire started in the first place. I can’t imagine that smoking in a storage room full of chemicals is recommended practice by any organization but without knowing exactly what happened it’s hard to make any changes to prevent this in the future.
Purely speculatively, it’s pretty clear that no one meant for a firefighter to die. Tragic end though.
I’m sure that will be the case, which in turn means that a great deal of patience will be required with the authorities to complete a thorough job.
@Robert Brown: Yes true a great level of patience is required but for any industry job role it does require a certain level of patience if you are willing to understand the requirement of the user.
I doubt anyone even expected a fire to break out much less cause that much damage or lead to injuries and the loss of a firefighter. This is why investigations are done though, stepping through the sequence of events may turn up a very easy to remedy action that can prevent tragedies like this in the future.
I was speaking about investigations, but of course the same goes for understanding an end user’s job requirements.
Fire caused by burning cigarette is a very common problem. Smoker should be very much conscious about this. This is a great example that culprit is getting punishment. This is the only way to create self-consciousness to smoker.
You’re right, @Mike Clauss. This is such a tragedy and I think with news like this, people tend to jump to conclusions right away because i just envokes such strong emotion. However, I do agree that an investigation is in order.
This is such heartbreaking news. There really have to better at-work regulations and best practices implemented. Aside from that, this occurence should be taken as a lesson to everyone else out there. This tragedy has caused the needless death of a firefighter, may be rest in peace.
This is why investigations are done, you tend to have some preconceived ideas that pop up anytime a tragedy like this happens and unless it is investigated thoroughly nothing will ever change.