Topic: | Nothing has changed. | |
Posted by: | David Kirche | |
Date/Time: | 23/06/17 11:55:00 |
* There are no fire alarms that could alert the other residents. * There are no sprinklers to ensure the escape route is safe. * There is no fire fighting equipment as we only have a dry riser. My concern now, beyond the risks present, relate to how residents would react to a major incident. Grenfell showed that residents could not be alerted quickly, and that their escape route was inaccessible and thick with smoke, as well as not having sprinklers. Were a major incident to occur the bare minimum today is that one of two things *MUST* exist: * Sprinkler system to keep the communal area and fire escape staircase clear of fire and safe. * An alarm system capable of alerting all residents, with a practised fire escape drill and meeting point. Both of these are relatively cheap to achieve (compared to the cost of other works), but neither could happen overnight. I am quite seriously thinking of going on to eBay and purchasing a WW2 air raid siren, and a motorbike ground locking point to secure it to the ground in the car park. And then putting up notices to inform the residents of it's use, and to perform a fire drill quarterly to ensure people know to pay attention to it and what to do when they hear it. This all goes *AGAINST* the fire safety procedure that the council and fire brigade recommends, which is to stay in the flat and rely on containment features of the building to keep you safe, to not all attempt to escape as you may hinder fire brigade coming into the building. But... that advice and the lack of facilities to alert residents and ensure a safe escape route contributed to the size of the death toll at Grenfell Tower. Honestly, I'd rather be alive and to have pissed someone off than be dead having followed the advice given. I'd rather have the means to alert everyone, than live with the thought someone died who could've lived if they'd been alerted. |