Club blaze begun by DJ's firework

Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 23:36

A DJ started a blaze inside a nightclub by launching a firework in the building during a Hogmanay disco, a court has heard.

Blazing debris fell from the ceiling of Edinburgh's Luna club moments after the midnight bells between 2008 and 2009.

Some 400 clubbers were still dancing when firefighters arrived. Some suffered burns after the fire melted a plastic cargo net on the ceiling, sending flames across the 650-capacity room.

Rescuers said the outcome could have been "catastrophic" but for "sheer luck".

DJ Jason Cormack claimed he was wrongly advised that the six-metre pyrotechnics were suitable for indoor use. But a sheriff yesterday condemned his "unbelievable attitude", saying it was fortunate nobody had died.

Sheriff Graeme Warner compared the blaze to one in Russia earlier this month. At least 148 people were killed after fire broke out during a fireworks display in a nightclub in the city of Perm.

Cormack, 33, who performs under the name Jason Cortez, from Wester Hailes in Edinburgh, was fined 1,000 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday.

He was due to stand trial, but admitted responsibility for fire safety failures at the Picardy Place venue on 1 January.