On 3 December 2006, a fire at Marlie Farm in East Sussex killed two firefighters and injured at least nine others.
The fire involved a complex of buildings at which a large volume of fireworks were being stored. The owners of the site were convicted of gross negligence manslaughter, and last year the courts found East Sussex Fire Authority had failed in a number of areas and rejected their claim that it had no responsibility towards its firefighters and owes them no duty of care — and therefore has no liability when a firefighter is injured or killed.
Although the courts rejected the fire authority’s original request to appeal, in January the Court of Appeal granted them leave, and the appeal will be heard in late July this year.
The FBU recently distributed circular 2014HOC0152MW to members updating them on developments.
