THE chief fire officer has called for the Home Office to re-examine the need for sprinklers at the Campsfield House immigration removal centre near Kidlington following a major fire.
A detainee was seriously injured in a fire at Campsfield House on October 18.
Oxfordshire fire and rescue service’s Dave Etheridge said a request for the installation of sprinklers first came after a blaze tore through the centre near Kidlington in 2008, but the Home Office did not install the devices.
Last night he said: “It’s a high risk building and we believe the latest fire could have been avoided if sprinklers had been fitted at our last request. We are again going to write to the Home Office.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We take the welfare of detainees extremely seriously and comply with all relevant fire safety legislation.”
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