Firefighters inquests opens
Inquests into the deaths of four firefighters who lost their lives in a factory fire at Atherstone on Stour will open today at Stratford Town Hall.
Formal identification of the four firefighters has now been completed and their identities confirmed as Ian Reid, aged 44, from Stratford; John Averis, aged 27, from Tredington; Darren Yates Badley, aged 24, and Ashley Stephens, aged 20, both from Alcester.
Warwickshire Police is conducting a full investigation into the fire, which occurred on Friday November 2, and is working with the Health and Safety Executive and fire service representatives both at the scene and in the incident room in Stratford.
There are currently about 100 officers working on the investigation, including 28 from other forces including Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, West Mercia, West Midlands, Cambridgeshire and Greater Manchester as well as the national Disaster Victim Identification team.
It is anticipated that forensic investigation and examination of the scene may take several weeks or longer to complete, due to the fragile condition of the warehouse and its size. The investigation itself will take many months.
Detective Chief Inspector Adrian McGee, deputy senior investigating officer, said: "We are making good progress in collecting statements from firefighters and factory employees but there is still a considerable amount of work to be completed at the site and this has to be done in a safe manner. We believe that this process will take a long time.
"We are grateful for the assistance we have received from witnesses so far and if there is anyone else who has information about the incident which they would like to talk to police about in confidence we would urge them to contact us.
"This is a very complex investigation involving considerable resources from Warwickshire Police and we are working closely with other forces and the national fire and rescue service to try to provide answers for the families about what happened on the night and why the four men died."
Note to editors: The inquests will open at 10 am at Stratford Town Hall, Sheep Street.
Members of the media are requested to respect the privacy of the firefighters’ families during this difficult time.