Fire risk design warning prompts Nationwide checks

Terrie Alafat, director of housing delivery and homelessness at the Communities and Local Government department, wrote to councils last week about the potential risk posed by ‘scissor-block’ style buildings.

The letter follows initial investigation by the fire brigade and Southwark Council into a fire which killed six people in Lakanal House, Camberwell, on 3 July. The deaths occurred on the 11th floor of the 14-storey block, despite the blaze starting on the ninth floor.

In the letter, Ms Alafat states early investigations have revealed ‘that there is a feature in the building that could undermine the fire protection of the common escape corridors’.

The concern arises because staircases within individual flats pass over the top of communal external corridors within the building. This could represent a ‘breach’ in fire resistance because it could ‘allow a fire in one of the flats to burn through the timber stair and spread into the ceiling void’, the letter states.

The letter suggests organisations may want to ‘consider the issues this raises in the context of the fire safety risk assessments that exist for similar premises in your area’.

Councils and housing associations across the UK said they were already taking action following the Lakanal fire.

Islington Council has instructed its arm’s-length management organisation Homes for Islington to review the safety of all its blocks, not just high rises, with the fire service.

Brighton & Hove Council is reviewing its block fire safety procedures and Tower Hamlets Homes carried out an urgent fire safety audit of similar blocks. Wirral Partnership Homes is making additional checks on its blocks for safety and writing to all tenants in the blocks to reassure them about fire safety.

Housing association Places for People is also reviewing its fire protocols.

A spokesperson for Southwark Council said this week that it had removed ceiling panels in the hallways of Marie Curie House, which neighbours Lakanal House and is of a similar design, following advice from the fire brigade. It said the brigade had told it this would reduce the risk of fire in the building.

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