Cameron House inquiry finds 'number of defects' led to fatal fire

A “number of defects” in the working systems at Cameron House hotel contributed to the cause of a hotel fire which killed two men, an inquiry has found.

Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner, Richard Dyson, 38, from London, died in the blaze at Cameron House on the banks of Loch Lomond in December 2017.

The fire began after night porter Christopher O’Malley emptied ash and embers from an open fire into a plastic bag and placed it into a concierge cupboard containing kindling and newspapers.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the incident was held last year to determine if lessons could be learned and sheriff Thomas McCartney made a series of recommendations in his 122-page report.

This detailed a series of failures at the hotel, including a lack of proper procedures or staff training around disposing of ash from open fires.

It found that Cameron House did not have a sprinkler system, which could “realistically have resulted in the deaths being avoided”.

There was also a delay in finding a guest list to do a roll call and determine if anyone was missing on the night of the fire.

Witness evidence

The inquiry heard oral evidence from 40 witnesses, including hotel employees and guests and emergency services.

One guest staying in the hotel with her husband and 10-year-old son in the room next door to Midgley and Dyson said evacuating the hotel was like trying to escape a “maze”.

She described finding the Christmas tree in the reception area on fire while others told the inquiry they had crawled on all fours to try and avoid the dense smoke.

The hotel’s night manager Darren Robinson told the inquiry he activated the fire alarm at around 6.40am in the morning and then dialled 999.

The court heard emergency services arrived to find “chaotic” scenes with more than 200 guests evacuated to the hotel’s Boat House restaurant. Some had to be stopped from going back into the hotel to retrieve items such as phones, medicine and baby food.

Robinson realised he had left a copy of the guest list at reception, which had to be retrieved by firefighters.

The court heard that it took around 90 minutes from when the fire alarm was first sounded to identify that Dyson and Midgley were missing. McCartney said the delay was a “serious concern” but had occurred due to “human error”.

Midgley and Dyson were both found with cuts on their arms having attempted to break a window. The couple died from inhalation of smoke and fire gases.

Report recommendations

The FAI report recommended that historic buildings that are converted into hotels in Scotland should be legally required to have a sprinkler system installed.

It said hotel owners and operators in Scotland should ensure all staff are trained in evacuation drills and have systems in place to ensure all guests and staff are accounted for.

Hotel staff should also be trained to ensure ash from open fires is removed in a “safe manner”, McCartney said.

He added that the time between a fire safety audit inspection and the issue of a written outcome report should be reduced.

Cameron house was previously fined £500,000 and O'Malley was given a community payback order over the fire. The hotel reopened after a refurbishment in 2021.

Andy Roger, resort director at Cameron House, said: “The publication of the inquiry’s report is an important milestone for everyone involved, and especially for the Midgley and Dyson families, who lost their loved ones.

“In all our dealings with them over the past five years, they have borne their grief with great bravery and dignity.

“We have gone to enormous lengths to ensure that Cameron House was rebuilt to the most exacting fire safety standards possible, combined with intensive staff training. We will now review the inquiry’s report in detail to see what further lessons can be learned.”

The sheriff’s recommendations come just over a week after a fire at the New County hotel in Perth claimed the lives of three people.

It has since emerged that Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) called for safety improvements to be made at the property in early December.

Stuart Stevens, interim deputy chief officer at SFRS, said: “We accept the recommendations highlighted in the report and will continue to work with the Scottish government and other key partners to implement and build on any measures to enhance community safety.

“This has clearly been a complex and detailed process and we hope that our submission to the inquiry has helped to provide some answers.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley and all of those affected by this tragedy.”