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London fire chief calls for probe into stay put policy and reversal of ‘20 years of neglect’

London’s most senior fire chief urges the government to carry out urgent research on what should be done to keep tenants safe, noting that “20 years of neglect” has rendered the stay put policy “no longer viable” for some buildings.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Fire chief urges government probe into stay put policy #ukhousing

In a statement released today, Dany Cotton, commissioner of the London Fire Brigade (LFB), said there is “no clear alternative” to the stay put policy if a fire spreads throughout the building.

The policy means that during a fire residents are advised to stay in their flats.

Ms Cotton, who announced in June she is quitting her role after three years, said she wanted the government to tackle the issue and “reverse 20 years of neglect in relation to fire safety”.

Her intervention comes just two weeks before the findings from the first part of the Grenfell Inquiry are due to be published.


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Ms Cotton faced criticism during the inquiry when she gave evidence saying she would not have changed anything about the LFB’s response on the night of the fire. The LFB is expected to be criticised by the inquiry, according to reports.

But today Ms Cotton, who is appearing before the London Assembly, repeated her assertion that the building was to blame during the blaze in which 72 people died.

“It was the single largest residential building fire that London Fire Brigade has ever fought, and the building should have protected the people that lived there in the way it was supposed to,” she said.

She added: “Fire spread the entire height of Grenfell Tower in less than 30 minutes. Residents and firefighters were placed in impossible conditions we had never experienced before.”

Last month it emerged that the LFB has been interviewed under caution by police over the fire.

Ms Cotton said it was “completely understandable” that the stay put advice had been questioned. But she added:"Since 2014, there have been more than 5,000 high rise fires in London alone and in the vast majority of these incidents ‘stay put’ advice has been effective. It’s very important for people to know that.

“We are talking about buildings that fail, rather than advice that fails and there is no clear alternative, which is why this research is needed.”

The LFB said buildings like Grenfell Tower are not designed for mass evacuation during a fire as many have narrow staircases and no common alarm system.

Lessons being learned and actions taken by the LFB will be published in a progress report being discussed today by the London Assembly’s Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee.

These measures include a change to the standard response to a high-rise fire since the Grenfell Tower fire. The standard response is now five fire engines and an aerial appliance. But where there is multiple calls and “cladding fire has been reported” this increases to 10 fire engines and an aerial appliance.

The LFB has also restructured the management of its 999 control room and control staff have undertaken fire survival guidance refresher training, it said.

It is also “overhauling” the way it gathers, records and shares operational risk information across the LFB. This has included the brigade’s fire safety inspecting officers conducting 1,238 visits to buildings with identified risks, the LFB said.

A government spokesperson said: “The government is taking urgent action to ensure residents are safe in their homes and we never see a devastating tragedy like the fire at Grenfell Tower again.

“This includes introducing the biggest reforms in building and fire safety in nearly 40 years and making sure unsafe buildings are identified and significant steps are taken to protect those who live there.

“We welcome London Fire Brigade publishing an internal investigation of its handling of the Grenfell Tower fire and will examine the findings carefully, along with those of the independent public inquiry’s phase 1 report, which will be published this month.”

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