Case study 4: City University's recovery from fire

The information about this case study is taken from the City University's publication Project Phoenix: A Case Study of City University's Recovery from Fire (Rhind et al., 2001), which was published to share experiences gained from the event with other institutions. On 21 May 2001, City University, London, experienced that which we all fear most - a major fire. It occurred in a Grade II listed building, the largest building on campus and, if this was not testing enough, the incident occurred at the height of the examination period, further increasing disruption to staff and students alike. Estimates for the cost of restitution and temporary measures exceed £10m, the majority being attributed to the costs of finding temporary accommodation. A large part of the affected building was out of service for approximately two years. In addition to the fire damage, considerable smoke and water damage extended the clean-up process. At the height of the blaze, 13 fire appliances and a helicopter were on site to try to bring it under control.