Potential hot-spots checked over by the Bermuda Fire Service last month included the Bank of Bermuda buildings, King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and the Esso and Shell bulk petroleum plants in Ferry Reach.

Bermuda Fire Service Lt. Dana Lovell said in addition to these potentially high fire-risk buildings, the Pembroke rest home and the Matilda Smith Williams rest home were also given the once over by Fire Personnel.

Last month Head of the Training Department of the Bermuda Fire Service, Lt. Lloyd Burchall said firefighters already had a good idea of the layout of the Belco power plant before a catastrophic fire there on July 14, plunged the Island into darkness.

"One of the factors that really helped us is that we do pre-planning of high risk areas and schools, hospitals, and all the major buildings in the City to know what we are up against," Lt. Burchall said in July.

He said had they not known the layout of the plant in advance they would not have known what buildings in the plant to keep the fire spreading to.

Yesterday, Lt. Lovell said Belco had been visited by the Fire Service one month prior to the catastrophic July 14 fire, however, he said he did not know if any fire suppression equipment was housed in the switchboard room that exploded.

"I was not at the Belco visit," he said. "All of the firefighters at the Hamilton Fore Station would be the ones to visit Belco, until all four shifts had gone there."

Lt. Lovell also said the Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Facility underwent a pre-planning session before it had major fire that burned over Christmas Day and Boxing Day in December, 2004.

Although Lt. Lovell said he did not know exactly how soon before the Tynes Bay fire its pre-plan took place, he conceded "it may have not been that long prior to the fire".

The Fire Service check each hot-spot once a year, unless changes or upgrades are made to the building, he said.

The purpose of the Fire Service pre-plans are for Fire Personnel to see the best vantage points to fight fire, the entrance and exits through the facilities, whether the correct fire suppression systems are in place, whether any hazardous materials are being stored at the facility, as well as where water is being stored.

"We also know if there are any physically challenged employees in the building, and if they need special assistance," he said. "We like to know where they are."