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Fire & Smoke Damage, Rochester Cathedral

July 17, 2024

Situation

Rochester Cathedral was founded in 604AD and owns the prestigious title of being England’s second oldest cathedral in England. They experienced a small fire a few days before Christmas and their popular Festival of Nine Lessons and Christmas Carol Services were in jeopardy for the first time in 1400 years.

At the time of the fire, the cathedral was evacuated but thankfully there were no injuries. The fire, believed to be started from the HVAC system, was caught early which meant the damage was at least restricted to a smaller area, so it didn’t affect the main Cathedral. However, there was some damage to the lead roof and elements of the heating system which will need to be replaced.

Inspection

The Kent team quickly attended the site to conduct specialist fire damage cleaning and ventilate the areas, to ensure the Christmas Carol Services could still take place. These services are a regular fixture for the cathedral and the community, so we worked around the clock to ensure these could still take place.

Our fire cleaning team installed a HEPA filter, to minimise the spread of the fire odour into the main cathedral. Fogging was also carried out inside to the affected areas to neutralise the smoke odour.

The staff at the Cathedral were happy with the initial works carried out and, whilst every effort was made to clean all areas we could, the customer was fully aware that it was not a final clean at this stage, but simply to ensure that the Christmas Services could go ahead safely. We believed the crypt area may also be contaminated with soot and advised it should be cleaned at our next visit.

I’m very relieved that nobody was injured, and that the situation was quickly brought under control. Everyone was just amazing and I’m very grateful to those who responded with such professionalism. Deo Gratias!

Quote from The Very Rev'd Dr Philip Hesketh AKC DL about the incident, taken from Rochester Cathedral's website.

Solution

In the New Year, after a meeting with the Cathedral Manager, the team set about completing a specialist clean to remove soot from an area adjoining the incident room, which was only made possible using the DocaPole System, specially designed for hard-to-reach areas, as well as a using a vacuum. We completed a clean of a riser cupboard, including cleaning the internal ducting to the best of our ability, given the difficulty of getting into the area – we were literally standing above a doorway! We also cleaned the soot from behind the HVAC unit, as it had been moved. The cathedral is fundraising for much needed repairs to the lead roof and heating system, at the following link.