Council boss and staff evacuated through ‘plume of smoke’ during fire at town hall

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A council boss was evacuated through a “plume of smoke” during a fire at the town hall headquarters.

Lewisham’s acting chief executive Jennifer Daothong and other staff were escorted out of council offices through a back door next to the fire in an outdoor bin store, according to a local councillor.

Recalling the terrifying incident at a health and safety committee which took place less than an hour after the blaze on May 24, councillor Chris Best questioned why staff couldn’t leave through the front of the building.

Councillor Best, Labour member for Sydenham, said: “We didn’t feel it was a satisfactory arrangement. I think it was too close because the store that was on fire could have had flammable materials in there. We were far too close if something did explode.

“We were guided through the back door which is where the fire was, it was to the side. We were walking through a plume of smoke.

“Apparently, the front doors closed so we couldn’t exit through the front of Laurence House, which would have been much better and I wouldn’t have had smoke in my lungs.”

Rich Clarke, the council’s risk management boss, said the front doors of the offices closed in order to create a fire curtain at the centre of the building, to prevent the spread of blazes inside.

But he accepted that the fire on May 24 took place outside the building in the car park and said officials needed to “think about what evacuation routes exist for a situation where there’s a fire immediately outside.”

Cllr Paul Bell raised concern that he was able to cycle into the basement of Laurence House during the fire, unaware that an evacuation was ongoing.

Cllr Bell, the Labour member for Telegraph Hill, said: “They managed to see me when I was in there about to lock up my bike and announced it over the tannoy, but if there’s going to be an evacuation they need to cover all the exits because you could have been going into the fire without realising.”

London Fire Brigade said they were called to a bin store fire in Laurence House car park at 6:41pm on Wednesday last week.

A crew from Lee Green Fire Station got the blaze under control by 7:02pm. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

A Lewisham council spokesperson said: “A fire broke out in the outdoor bin store in the Laurence House car park on 24 May.

“The building was evacuated and the London Fire Brigade attended to put out the fire. We are working with the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire and any actions required in response to this incident.”

Pictured top: Left, Jennifer Daothong, Lewisham council’s acting chief executive and Lewisham council’s Laurence House offices in Catford (Picture: Lewisham council, Google Street View)