What happened to Littlewoods Chesterfield?

On 7 May 1993 a fire broke out at the Littlewoods Chesterfield store. Tragically it would claim the lives of two people who were unable to reach the emergency exit in time and were overcome by toxic gases.

How did the Littlewoods Chesterfield fire start?

The fire was started deliberately by a young arsonist who had a history for lighting fires and enjoyed watching fire engines and firefighters arrive. He was sentenced after admitting two charges of manslaughter and three of damaging property.

Following his sentencing he attempted to commit suicide by setting fire to a room in a secure unit.

What can the industry learn from the Littlewoods Chesterfield fire?

The store had poor firefighting provisions and was not protected by water sprinklers, a basic fire direction and alarm system and inadequate passive protection.

Littlewoods corporate policies for fire safety measures were since reviewed and upgraded.