The lack of a valid fire risk assessment at the time of last year’s blaze at the Fire Service College has hit he headlines again today – seven weeks after Info4fire broke the original story.

The BBC News report is a spin-off from today’s You and Yours programme on Radio 4, which re-tells the story of the lack of a fire risk assessment for the appliance bay area at the time of the fire, which destroyed 11 fire engines worth over £1 million.

Info4Fire broke the story on 21 January following a Freedom of Information request to the Fire Service College by independent fire safety consultant, Colin Todd. An investigation after the fire in May 2009 by the Crown Premises Inspection Group – the enforcing authority under the Fire Safety Order – identified the lack of a fire risk assessment for the premises. It also confirmed that compliant assessments under the Order had been in progress across other parts of the site.

Today’s BBC You and Yours programme said the situation at the college last May is part of a worrying trend in the absence of suitable and sufficient fire risk assessments being made by those who should know better, citing the discovery, after the Lakanal House fire in August, of the absence of fire risk assessments in many residential tower blocks.

The programme also revealed that as part of the continuing investigation into the Lakanal House fire, a special rig had been built to simulate part of the tower block.