The hazards of high-rise living

IT is all too evident that the inferno which struck the residential tower block in west London (pictured below) has caused many in anything similar to be aware of the hazards of high-rise living.

Even my two-bedroom bungalow residence has a second door escape into the open air, something I learned at work for industrial buildings of all sizes.

I have in fact three such doors in my house, which perhaps makes up for the ‘clutter’ I surround myself with (due to mobility difficulties as I see it). I saw many high-rise blocks of ordinary and expensive housing shooting up in my years in London.

We all have the expectation that “everything” will have been built into such buildings, with “all” the provisions of fire fighting, hose reels, stair landing hydrants, sprinklers, fire safety doors and such.

Though not involved myself, I was employed by an organisation supplying gas to the infamous Ronan Point tower block in east London.

A gas accident in one kitchen caused the progressive collapse of the roof-ceiling units from top to bottom of one corner of the tower.

The major inquiry appeared

to conclude the roof sections were only ‘fixed’ by very minimal connections, hence a relatively small event led to damage on all floors.

Ordinary people’s expectations were not met, again. Mr Pringle’s experience of the ‘floating hotel’ cruise liners we see visiting the Tyne at this time of year has the same sort of knowledge relevant to tower blocks, residential and others.

He points out that on land, when you reach the ground, people are then relatively safe, but on water your real problems may have just ‘started.’ The Piper-Alpha oil rig was a notable example, I believe, of a high-rise at sea.

AM JOHNSON, Cullercoats