It took up to 25 firefighters to extinguish this flat fire above shops in Bethnal Green. Part of a three roomed flat above a shop was damaged by fire and fortunately nobody was hurt in the incident.
As I have said previously, it is important when carrying out a fire risk assessment to the communal areas of flats to consider the whole building, any commercial/retail premises below and ensure the means of escape are adequately protected for the residents.
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A huge and historic manor in Wiltshire has been destroyed by fire despite heroic efforts from firefighting crews to save the building.
This building was believed to have been built in the early 1700’s as a hunting lodge and is registered as a listed building.
I don’t know what the building was currently used for and it’s condition but I do know that fire safety can sometimes be compromised in buildings which are listed or are in conservation areas.
This can change what you are allowed to alter within a building due to its historic nature and value and often fire safety professionals have to come up with a range of compensating features to deal with these issues.
It’s all part of the challenges facing fire risk assessors who assess these type of buildings. I hope the building can one day be restored to its original splendour.
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London Fire Brigade (LFB) submitted concerns for over 120 planning applications in the last year for proposed new buildings with a single staircase. There was little they could do in many cases but it goes to show the concern over high rise blocks of flats following the Grenfell Fire.
What is paramount is that the single staircase in high rise buildings are protected with lobby protection amongst other safety systems. A working AOV system is very important and making sure these areas stay clear and sterile is crucial.
One thing we should always try to remember as fire risk assessors is that the risk of a fire is within the flats themselves and the kitchens are one of the most likely rooms for a fire to start. Educating residents is very important such as to never leave your cooking unattended, test your smoke alarms and keeping internal doors closed at night can ultimately protect the single staircase as much as anything. By limiting the chances of a fire starting and its potential to spread, you can limit its impact on the main buildings escape route.
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This article talks about fire appliances not being able to access a residential road due to the road being too narrow. This is being looked into by Building Control and it is essential fire service access is approved before any new build developments are built.
If you then consider some residents may also potentially park along the road and there can be situations when fire appliances would have real trouble reaching an operational incident.
When carrying out a fire risk assessment, its something that also needs to be considered. Normally its something assessors take for granted but they shouldn't as its these kind of issues (locked gates being another) that can hinder a real incident.
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This fire in a restaurant in Plaistow quickly spread across two floors before LFB got the fire under control. There are residential flats above this restaurant and fortunately nobody was hurt in the incident.
It shows the importance of having a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment in place. When carrying out a fire risk assessment its important to ensure that you look at the whole building even if you are only assessing the restaurant area. Considering the compartmentation between commercial and residential properties, potentially linked fire alarm systems and the escape routes from the flats is important because a fire in the restaurant could have an impact on the flats above.
The London Fire Brigade have advised about the importance of having extraction ducting systems maintained as well as general electrical advice within this article.
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There are still more than 1000 buildings in London needing a waking watch as of early February this year.
This is an ongoing issue which continues to cost huge sums of money and much distress to the residents. I'm still not a big fan of waking watches although they are most certainly needed in the most severe and dangerous of buildings.
My issue is that the money spent is then lost forever, there is nothing tangible to show for it. I believe there are a huge range of options available with huge technological advances in fire safety equipment that can be used as an alternative.
These options are less expensive, less invasive and stressful for the residents and actually provide real equipment and systems that even if removed once the work is complete, can often then be re-used or sold.
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Good article regarding how a ‘Culture Change’ is required for new Building developments in London. This should take into account all of the fire safety matters right from when the building project is planned and designed.
Planning the entire fire safety strategy from start to finish, from fire appliance parking to the evacuation procedure and fire detection systems.
Everybody should play their part. This includes the architects, building control officers, contractors, engineers and owners all the way through to the occupants and fire risk assessors to ensure that the fire safety strategy is understood by all.
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This article asks who will pay for the remediation costs for the Building Safety Bill. Its worth a read and looks at various pieces of legislation and how the changes will be funded. Like most things in life, money is at the heart of the issue and has caused many disputes in the fire safety world.
The whole issue of cladding and other external wall materials having to be removed has caused much financial and emotional stress, particularly for the residents for any such buildings.
Its often a subject that people don't like to talk about because of the emotive factors involved, but what tends to happen with any of these big legislative announcements is that excessive costs in one area often leads to a shortfall in another area.
Lets hope other (and just as important) fire safety issues are not brushed under the carpet and underfunded as money is moved from area to another.
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