Three fire service managers have been bailed until next year after appearing in court charged in connection with the deaths of four colleagues in a Warwickshire blaze.
Station Manager Timothy Woodward and Watch Managers Paul Simmons and Adrian Ashley have been charged with gross negligence manslaughter. The charges followed a probe into the deaths of their colleagues in November 2007.
Fire fighters Ian Reid, John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Badley all died in the fire. They had been battling a warehouse blaze in Atherstone-on-Stour.
The defendants were not required to enter a plea to the charges at the hearing at Warwick Crown Court. Warwickshire County Council also faces a charge of failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees in relation to the blaze.
Simmons, 50, from Hampton Magna, Warwickshire, Ashley, 45, from Nuneaton, and Woodward, 50, from Leamington Spa, are next expected to appear at Stafford Crown Court in January 2012.
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