Fire risk discovered at Ice Bowl

SERIOUS fire safety issues were discovered at Dumfries Ice Bowl during the course of its multi-million pound upgrade, it has been revealed. An “absence of fire protections” were found by chance within the 33-year-old building while £2.5 million energy efficiency works were being carried out. A contractor involved in the ice bowl upgrade insisted that it was “critical” these fire risks were addressed. The matter was discussed by councillors on Tuesday after they had an update on the works and reopening of the sports facility. North West Dumfries Councillor Paula Stevenson said “This has left me a wee bit concerned. How often are we checking that we’re compliant in other buildings? “If we’ve just found this out through works, what assurances have we got as councillors that we’re not going to find this anywhere else?” Mo Agoun, the council’s property, estates and programmes manager, responded: “With the ice bowl, it’s not possible to check these issues with the naked eye. “We had to do openings to find the absence of fire protections unfortunately.” He explained that, due to changes in buildings standards over the past few decades, fire safety regulations were not as strict when the ice bowl was built in 1992 as they are today. He added: “We carry out checks where possible, but it’s not possible for us to check all buildings on a regular basis for fire safety. “But what we intend to do if we ever have refurbishments, or works in buildings, is ensure thorough checks are carried out. “We’ll make sure to address any issues – the same as we’re doing here with the ice bowl." Photo: DG Council