The f ire exit that led into a storeroom
A CENTRE for asylum seekers was closed down after a firesafety inspection found a number of serious deficiencies, including an emergency exit sign that led into a storeroom.
The biggest problem discovered by inspectors was that no fire stopping had been fitted in the ceilings above the accommodation, which would have allowed a blaze to spread quickly between bedrooms.
The Westbourne Holiday Hostel in Limerick had been used for housing asylum seekers for more than 15 years.
The extent of the issues has been revealed in documents, including a fire-compliance report in February of last year, which were prepared by a firm of consulting engineers and have now been released under Freedom of Information. They detail 14 separate failings. Protected stairways had no firestopping and there were no partitions in the areas above the bedroom ceilings, according to the report from February of last year.
The doors that led to the escape stairs were also missing seals and strips that would have helped contain any fire that broke out.
Exit signage was a problem. The report found: ‘It (the signage) should be maintained throughout, i.e. lit at all times, and it’s not lit on all escape routes.’
Signage was actually missing from some of the escape routes and in one instance an emergency exit sign led into a store room.
In October, a second inspection report was undertaken, which said that many of the issues identified had already been fixed.
However, it still concluded: ‘The building as it now stands is quite unsafe, the main problem being the fire stopping in the ceiling space.’
In January of this year, the Department of Justice’s Reception and Integration Agency terminated the centre’s contract because of what it said was a failure to carry out ‘essential maintenance’.
The 64 male residents of the centre were moved to different accommodation in the region and the rest of the country.
The Department of Justice said that it had made repeated requests to Westbourne to carry out maintenance in order to ‘ensure the health and safety’ of the residents.