The Chancellor of the University of Nottingham (UoN), Sir Andrew Witty, has officially thanked Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service for their efforts to protect the community during the September fire at Jubilee campus.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer Wayne Bowcock was presented with the Chancellor’s Award at a ceremony last week, recognising the work done by the service in preventing the spread of the fire.
This is the first time that this award has been given. It has been created to recognise outstanding contributions made by individuals and external organisations to the success of UoN. The University has simultaneously donated £20,000 to The Fire Fighters Charity.
“It’s a great honour to receive this on behalf of the Service. It’s an absolute tragedy to lose the building”
Mr Bowcock said: “It’s a great honour to receive this on behalf of the Service. It’s an absolute tragedy to lose the building and the crews were aghast when they got there and we realised there was little we could do to save it.
“The priority then was people’s safety and there were some significant challenges for us to protect the surroundings and keep people safe. It was a big team effort and it’s great that the University has recognised that with this award.
“We’re really keen to work with the University to see that building built and achieve what it was meant to, and realise that vision.”
“We would like to show our appreciation to the Fire Service and its employees for their exceptional response to the fire”
Dr Paul Greatrix, Registrar at The University of Nottingham said: “We would like to show our appreciation to the Fire Service and its employees for their exceptional response to the fire and for helping to prevent the loss of any other buildings and ensuring no loss of life.
“We are also extremely grateful for their thorough investigation and subsequent report which will allow us to proceed with re-building and to continue with our ambition to complete this landmark development.”
The fire service recently revealed that the fire was most likely caused by an electrical fault, which spread quickly through the building which had no fire doors or windows.
A new lab is currently under construction, which will look “indistinguishable” from the previous building, contractor Morgan Sindall said.
The firm said it was working with the Health and Safety Executive to identify “additional areas for learning” and was adhering to new guidance on timber frame buildings issued since the blaze.
Beth Rowland
Image: BBC
