In response to the tragedy at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay over the weekend (18 August ’07) the RFU offers sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and those seriously injured or missing.

We would also commend the efforts of all the fire crews involved at the incident (many of which were retained personnel) who clearly demonstrated their skills and dedication. Their hard work in extremely difficult circumstances does not warrant some of the comments which have appeared in the media, especially the references to “Part-timers” as if they are in some way a “second class” resource and not as good as the “Professionals”. Just because they operate on a different duty system does not mean that their skills are inferior.

We are however alarmed at the way in which this tragedy is being portrayed and the manner in which blame is being apportioned. We question whether one Wholetime crew permanently stationed at Newquay would have made any significant difference to what was already an inferno when the first crew arrived. Throw away lines such as this mislead the public at a time of great loss for the families of the bereaved and injured which can only add to their distress.

Claims that lives would not have been lost, or injuries to casualties would have been reduced had the circumstances been different is unhelpful to say the least and at the present time these claims are based purely on speculation without any scientific evidence on which to based these comments.

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that lives will always be lost in fires no matter what resources are available; notwithstanding the skills and dedication of the fire service, attendance is not the only determining factor. This is not the time for the blame culture to kick in without any evidence.

As a professional body the RFU will naturally play our part in any investigations to ensure that should lessons need to be learnt over this incident then appropriate action takes place.

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