Anger at Southwarks Council decision to remove fire alarm in Lidgate Road flats

BY SAM WALKER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

Town hall chiefs have ripped out a fire alarm in a block of flats with one of its residents left furious and feeling unsafe.

Southwark council removed a fire alarm from a block of flats in Lidgate Road, Southwark in January this year, as part of a process of removing incorrectly supplied fire alarms in the area.

The council has been doing so based on a guidance document released by the Local Government Association in 2011 which states that a ‘stay put’ policy makes it unnecessary for a fire alarm system to be present in common areas of blocks of flats.

The ‘stay put’ policy advises that in the event of a fire, residents stay in their flats and don’t try to exit using the common areas – the same policy that was in place when the Lakanal House tragedy happened in 2009.

Since Lakanal House in 2009, Southwark council has invested £62m on improving safety in all council properties, but even so, one resident was left fuming.

Carl Campbell, who lives in the block of flats, complained to the council when the fire alarm in the common area of his block of flats was removed in January this year.

He wrote to the council stating the “dangerous and unsafe” situation which the residents, including elderly people and children, found themselves in, and to ask why the fire alarm in his block of flats had been removed when the block of flats next to his still had theirs.

A spokesman for the council said: “The safety of our residents is always our first concern, especially when it comes to fire safety.

“We have a team of experienced fire safety professionals who regularly review the safety of all of our homes, producing Fire Risk Assessments for each block, which are published online.

“The removal of the fire alarm from the common areas of some blocks happened following these assessments.

“This is because if an alarm in the common areas goes off because smoke is present, this would encourage residents to leave the safety of their flats (which are constructed to provide 60 minutes of protection against fire) and enter a potentially dangerous smoke-filled corridor.

“This is why purpose-built blocks of flats generally operate a ‘stay put’ policy, and is why we’re currently removing alarms from the common areas of some blocks.

The council has carried out fire safety works and fire risk assessments on all its blocks.

In this time, several fires have started but have been contained to one flat or even one room because of the fire safety works that have been carried out.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, employers or those who have control over a premises, known as the ‘responsible person’, are required by law to carry out a fire risk assessment and act on its findings.

“The risk assessment should also identify actions which need to be taken in order to protect the building from fire.

It must be kept under constant review and amended if any changes are made to the premises.”