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Kings Cross Fire Research Paper

Decent Essays

The kings Cross Fire is one real life example of where design problems have had a negative impact on a company’s relationship with its customers. The incident broke out on Wednesday 18 November 1987 at the major interchange on the London Underground. The devastating incident lead to the killing of 31 people and around 100 people left with minor injuries.

Around 7:30 a small fire occurred on the escalator serving the Piccadilly line as the fire was still lit it was then reported by one of the passengers as well as other several passengers, instantly staff and police went to investigate and confirming the fire to the fire brigade.
Minutes later, the flame grew horribly, producing superheated gas that rose to the top of the shaft enclosing the escalator, where it was trapped against the tunnel’s ceiling. As the superheated gases pooled along the ceiling of the escalator, old layers of paint began …show more content…

As many were asking why the fire brigade workers weren’t trained to use the equipment so if this was avoided it could have meant that all the lives that were lost could have been with us today. This also had a problem with the company’s income as people were scared to travel on the trains. The conclusion was that this newly discovered trench effect had caused the fire to flashover at 19:45.

On 23 November, five days after the fire. The legacy, sub-surface Railway Stations regulations 1989 were introduced. Smoking was banned in all London Underground stations, including on the escalators. In addition, to this wooden panelling was to be removed from escalators, until the whole London Underground was operating on metal escalators. Heat detectors and sprinklers were also fitted beneath escalators, and the radio communication system and station staff emergency training were to be

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