Grenfell fire chief: Rethink ‘stay put’ rule

MINISTERS must urgently review the ‘stay put’ advice for blazes in high-rise buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the head of London Fire Brigade said yesterday.

Dany Cotton called on the Government to reverse ‘20 years of neglect’ on fire safety.

The London Fire Commissioner urged ministers to launch urgent research into cases of ‘ buildings that fail’, where the advice for residents to wait in their homes to be rescued ‘is no longer viable’.

Her comments follow calls from the London Fire Brigade for the Government to update building regulations to prevent fires similar to the Grenfell disaster. The blaze in North Kensington, west London, claimed 72 lives in June 2017.

People living in high-rise properties are currently told that it is usually safer to stay in their flat if there is a blaze elsewhere in their block, because it is assumed the building’s design and construction will stop the fire spreading. They are recommended to call 999 for advice. The Grenfell fire inquiry has heard that the ‘stay put’ advice was only officially abandoned almost two hours after the first 999 call.

Miss Cotton issued her call when she presented a progress report on the lessons learned to a London Assembly committee.

‘Fire spread the entire height of Grenfell Tower in less than 30 minutes,’ she said. ‘Residents and firefighters were placed in impossible conditions we had never experienced before.

‘That is why I am calling for the Government to reverse more than 20 years of neglect in relation to fire safety and to undertake urgent research on “buildings that fail”, which means “stay put” advice is no longer viable in those buildings.’

But Miss Cotton noted that since 2014 there had been more than 5,000 high rise fires in London, with ‘stay put ‘advice being effective in the ‘vast majority’ of incidents.