36
57
regulations concerning the storage of the more stable substances in Category 4 (c.g. Cellulose Lacquer) are less detailed and restrictive. The regulations in respect of the storage of goods in Categories 5, 6, 7 and 8 are fairly perfunctory and unelaborate, and should not be very difficult for owners of godowns to observe. Goods of Categories 5 and 6 may not be stored in domestic promises, and storage places must be
licensed. There is no prohibition of storage of Category 7 goods in
domestic premises, but the storage must be licensed. There is no need
to have a license to store Category 8 goods, unless the storage space is connected with domestic premises. The licensing authority is in all
cases the Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade, and the onus of acquiring a license rests primarily with the owner of the goods and secondarily with the owner of the premises in which they are stored. This means
that an importer of dangerous goods should obtain a license from the
Fire Brigade, as soon as he is aware that the goods are actually en
route to him. We understand from the Chief Officer that this procedure is sometimes observed by more reputable importers. Persons wishing to store raw celluloid or cinematograph film must notify the Chief Officer, who may or may not certify the storage as suitable.
59. We believe that the highly specialised requirements in respect of the storage of explosives, compressed gases, and the more unstable sub-- stances giving off inflammable vapour (i.e. Categories 1 2 and 4) are
?
probably complied with and enforced fairly rigorously by the Chief Of-
ficer of the Fire Brigade and the Director of Marine. The old regulation" were largely concerned with these substances, and the now ones do not
differ markedly. For these reasons and because substances of these cate-
gories were not involved in the Wing On Fire, we have excluded consider-
ation of their storage from the scope of this Inquiry.
70.
Dangerous goods may also be stored in limited quantities in shops
and other similar promises, the inspection and licensing of which cer-
tainly puts a heavy Lurden on the Fire Brigade. The limitation of quan- tities adds to the complexity of the storage regulations, but while the initial fire risk in such places may be greater than in specially con-
structed places, the ultimate fire risk, as has been shown in the case