Local Acts – which include fire safety provisions over and above those in the Building Regulations – are to be scrapped, the government has announced.

A London hotel has had to pay more than £260,000 in fines and costs in what is believed to be the first jury trial of a case under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

A fire has gutted the cookery school building at River Cottage HQ, the famous home of TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

A police constable has been praised for his bravery after he ran into a blazing building and rescued 15 people in the early hours of Saturday 4 February.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service release CCTV footage of an arsonist accidentally setting himself on fire (he was unhurt)

Humberside Fire & Rescue Service are to trial the installation of sprinklers in the homes of elderly and vulnerable people, unable to escape in the event of a fire

A 14th century ‘luxury’ wedding venue has paid more than £23,000 after pleading guilty to nine fire safety offences.

BTE Systems' Jason Burke will attempt a 150-mile race across the Sahara in aid of the Fire Fighters charity

A gas pipe fire at a steelworks has led to a second safety conviction in just over a month for TATA steel

London Fire Brigade have saved over £9m over the last four years by dramatically reducing the number of false alarm calls attended, according to new figures released

A huge fire near the BBC’s television centre closes underground stations and main road into London as a huge plume of smoke is sent across West London

Electrically powered vehicles do not pose a greater risk of fire than conventionally fuelled cars, a US government agency has said.

An independent fire safety advisor is claimed to be the first in the UK to have proven his competence as a fire risk assessor against the recently published competency criteria for fire risk assessors.

Sixty firefighters tackled a blaze on an industrial estate which left three units damaged.

A takeaway restaurant above which staff had been sleeping has been ordered to pay more than £24,000 after admitting a series of offences under fire safety legislation.

The Fire Industry Association has branded the decision of a fire service not to attend unconfirmed automatic fire alarms as ‘confrontational’.

A driver of a fuel tanker has been charged with a number of offences after the vehicle crashed into a bungalow setting the property alight.

A building containing a plant room, sauna and swimming pool was badly damaged and 11 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at a gym in Kent.

A Chinese restaurant has been forced to temporarily close after fire broke out on the premises.

A vast 3500 year old tree in Florida was destroyed by fire earlier this week in mysterious circumstances

The Fire Industry Association (FIA) has revealed the seminar programme for their annual conference which takes place on 15th March, in Warwickshire

40 firefighters attend a significant fire in a 22-story tower block that has left one flat completely gutted

BMW have issued a mssive recall of 235,000 Mini's following the discovery of a fire risk in the water pump of certain models

The Scottish Government have today announced a huge proposed reform of Scottish fire and rescue services that will mean the creation of a single combined department

A new vocational qualification – the International Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management – has been launched this week by safety, health and environmental examination board, NEBOSH.

Eurotunnel carried out a massive drill at the weekend to test their new automatic fire suppression systems, built in response to the freight fire of 2008

In the absence of central government direction, the fire safety sector can only develop its own policies and standards if it presents a united front, according to the president of the Association for Specialist Fire Protection, Brian Robinson.

A Salford takeaway has paid £13,000 after pleading guilty to nine offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Lambeth Council have received a number of fire safety enforcement notices after London Fire Brigade inspectors found failings in council-owned buildings

A fire believed to have been started deliberately following a burglary at a multi-occupied premises was brought under control by sprinklers.

A fire has gutted the recording studio and storage facility of Bradford based post-punk band, New Model Army.

Fire chiefs are pushing ahead with a consultation to relocate fire stations to a new £6m emergency services hub in Cornwall, despite criticisms

A hybrid car that risked fire following a side-on impact has had a solution identified by General Motors, but the repairs will cost almost $9 million

A businessman and former Lord Mayor has been sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years following breaches of fire safety law at his factory.

A document setting out criteria against which the competence of a fire risk assessor can be assessed is now available.

Brixton Academy played host to 20 firefighters this Christmas as a fire broke out in the bar area of the famous venue

Bonfire night in 2011 was officially the quietest on record according to the London Fire Brigade

A German national has been arrested following a long weekend of arson attacks, with over 50 fires across Los Angeles

Two security officers were seriously injured after an explosion and fire at a former colliery in Nottinghamshire on new year’s eve.

The dangers of squatting have been underlined following a third hotel fire involving squatters in Newquay this year

In our story about fire safety advice over the festive period, we mistakenly added the word 'not' to the advice on testing smoke alarms weekly.

Incredible video of a fire at an indsutrial park in Lancashire last week, attended by over 100 firefighers

The increasing trend towards security systems companies offering fire safety systems installation, plus the gradual move towards integrated systems, are two of the reasons behind an enhanced Fire Solutions feature at IFSEC International next May.

The top 20 news stories from 2011 on info4fire.com

Fire chiefs have backed a campaign to provide clearer guidance to help building managers meet their duties under fire safety legislation.

A new report investigating whether certain non-conventional methods of construction increase the risk of severe fires has been published by the NHBC Foundation.

Around 40 firefighters were called to a fire at the Sandwich Industrial Estate in Kent, which destroyed the offices of timber frame manufacturing company, OFP Timber Homes, causing an estimated £100,000’s damage.

A fire has destroyed a building in Huddersfield where a member of the 1966 World Cup winning England team used to work.

Proposals which may see venues for under 5,000 people taken out of the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 have been criticised as a ‘step too far’ by the Chief Fire Officers Association.

A tower block which featured in the hit BBC comedy Only Fools and Horses has had its Christmas lights taken down because of fire safety fears.