I once worked for a company where the owner almost burnt down his own building by throwing a cigarette butt into a skip in the underground car park. The fire brigade put it out but his Porsche which was parked next to the skip suffered some damage.
I bet the company risk registrar was amended at the next board meeting. Maybe this is what could also have saved the person mentioned in the OP, no not a fire but having a risk registrar, you never know, it could of had him doing backups.