AN INQUIRY INTO THE FIRE AT THE SYDNEY BUILDING
Date of death
2014-02-17
Finding date
2018-11-01
Cause of death
Fire caused by unattended cooking wok on gas stove with ignited cooking oil
AI-generated summary
A fire occurred at Sydney Building, Canberra City on 17 February 2014 in the kitchen of Japanese restaurant Izakaya Coo 2 G 4 U, caused by an unattended cooking wok on a gas stove that ignited cooking oil. A staff member may have left the gas burner on before departing. The fire spread through the building due to operational exhaust fans and lack of modern fire suppression systems, affecting adjacent tenancies. Emergency services responded promptly and controlled the fire by 4:18 pm. The coroner identified concerns about procedures for post-fire release of multi-tenanted buildings. Key recommendations: Release of Premises forms should expressly reference utility status (electricity and gas) and identify appropriate persons to be notified of residual risks.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Staff member left gas burner on unattended
- Lack of modern active and passive fire suppression systems
- Exhaust fans operative allowed fire to build in kitchen without immediate spread
- Failure to disconnect gas supply after fire
- Inadequate procedures for isolating utilities at multi-tenanted buildings
- No Release of Premises form completed for multi-tenanted building
Coroner's recommendations
- Release of Premises form should include reference to the status of utilities such as electricity and gas
- Release of Premises form should prompt consideration of identifying appropriate persons to be made aware of risks in multi-tenancy buildings
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