THE devastation of the Grenfell fire has sent shockwaves across the UK and beyond.
I don’t think any of us expected to see such a horrific tragedy unfold before our eyes- images of the ferocious blaze and subsequent charred building will live long in the memory.
The outpouring of emotion and unanswered questions have dominated the news.
To put some sort of perspective into the tragedy, the number of fatalities could be around half of the total in any one year – and this from one tragic incident.
A lot has been said about the fact that the building is purpose-built flats and therefore suitable for residents to stay put unless the fire is in their flat. The guidance for Fire Safety in Flats states as much. The reason being each flat is a fire-rated box – safe in the knowledge that the passive fire protection is such that the fire is contained and in particular, the protected routes – staircase and landings will be fire and smoke free areas, by virtue of fire doors installed.
Many people have questioned single staircase escapes for such a tall building. It is always better to have two-way escape but for the reasons just stated, staircases should provide sterile areas for people to safely escape.
So where did all go wrong? Most disasters are a sequence of dominoes falling – never just one thing that goes wrong.
The plastic cladding provided a heated blanket for the building, the cavity providing a passage for the fire to use the oxygen available to rapidly travel up and across the building. On a hot day windows are left open and, most likely, doors wedged or self-closing devices removed.
Herein lies the next problem – was there a robust management system in place to ensure doors closed freely? Did flat doors have closing mechanisms removed by residents? In a panic situation, people leave their flat in a state of distress – not always remembering to close doors behind them.
Fire Risk Assessment – a legal requirement, will assess the overall level of safety in the building and identify what measures need to be taken to reduce or remove the risk.
Would the cladding have been picked up in the report?
It may well depend on the level of FRA completed – Type 1 is a visual inspection only whereas Type 2 is more intrusive and will look into more detail regarding the building’s compartmentation.
There’s a lot to think about. Assessing risk is a specialist area – the consequences devastating. For any advice, or if you have properties that require Fire Risk Assessment, just drop us an email or pick up the phone. Call 01832 735874, email mark@hasaw.co.uk or visit www.hasaw.co.uk
