Only one in 50 tower blocks have sprinklers. We have to fit them now to avoid a new Grenfell
ALL council tower blocks must be fitted with sprinklers to prevent another Grenfell-style inferno, fire chief Dany Cotton said – as it emerged just one in 50 have them.
The tragedy should be a “turning point” to ensure the safety of homes across the country, the London Fire Brigade commissioner said.
Just 2% of council and housing association tower blocks have full sprinkler systems, a probe has found – meaning around 3,920 tower blocks do not have the safeguard.
Of those, 68% have only one staircase through which to evacuate, the BBC investigation discovered.
Ms Cotton said the official inquiry into the disaster, which opens today, should recommend a programme of retrofitting sprinklers in all tower blocks.
She said: “Grenfell should be a turning point.
“I support retrofitting. If you can save one life then it’s worth doing. This can’t be optional, it can’t be a ‘nice to have’. This is something that must happen.
“If that isn’t one of the recommendations then I will be so very disappointed.”
Experts believe the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed at least 80 in Ladbroke Grove, West London in June, could have been stopped much sooner had sprinklers been installed.
Deaths per thousand reported fires were 87% lower where they were installed, evidence from the US shows. Alan Brinson, boss of the European Fire Sprinkler Network, said: “Nothing compares to them in saving lives.”
Installing sprinklers in existing flats would cost about £1,100 per flat.
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Amina Mohamed, 46, who escaped from the tower’s eighth floor with her nephew Khaled Ahmed, 21, hopes the inquiry would change the rules on sprinklers. She said: “There needs to be action now so this never happens again. If they had acted before maybe it would have been different for Grenfell.”
After the tragedy the Mirror told how more than a million people were living in council-owned towers with no sprinkler systems.
A 2015 Inside Housing poll found just one in eight town halls had installed sprinklers in any flats in high-rises.
Campaigner Piers Thompson, who has helped with the Grenfell relief effort, said it was “outrageous” that only 2% of tower blocks had full sprinkler systems.
He said: “It’s unbelievable so many authorities have got such little care for the safety of their tenants.”
In June, when asked about last year’s refurbishment of the building, former Kensington and Chelsea Council leader Nicholas Paget-Brown claimed it was residents who did not want sprinklers.
He said: “Many felt we needed to get on with the installation of new hot water systems, new boilers, and that trying to retrofit more would delay building and that sprinklers aren’t the answer.”
The public inquiry will examine its cause, the adequacy of high-rise regulations, the refurbishment and the actions of authorities before and after the tragedy. The Department for Communi- ties and Local Government will consider whether to retrofit sprinklers based on its recommendations.
An initial report by inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick is due by Easter.
Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey MP said: “Ministers have been several steps off the pace at every stage
dealing with Grenfell. They must now act urgently to fund retrofitting of tower blocks, starting with those at highest risk.”
But council chiefs want a “case-by-case risk assessed approach” to retrofitting.
In 2007 sprinklers were made compulsory in new high-rises over 30 metres tall in England. The rule does not apply to buildings and so failed to cover Grenfell, which was built in 1974.
Campaigner Mr Thompson said it should have been re-categorised as a new-build after refurbishment, as the cladding that led to the fire spreading so rapidly changed its make-up.
After the inquest into the July 2009 Lakanal House blaze in South London, in which six died, a coroner recommended ministers “encourage” housing providers to retrofit sprinklers in high-rises.
And after a 2010 fire at Shirley Towers in Southampton, which killed two firefighters, the coroner said councils should be “encouraged to consider” the retroexisting fitting of sprinklers. The BBC quizzed 56 local authorities and housing associations about tower blocks for which they hold the freehold. Answers covered about half of the UK’s estimated 4,000 blocks.
All new homes built in Wales must have sprinklers after it became the first country to introduce the law in 2013.
The DCLG said: “Public safety is paramount, which is why the Government established a comprehensive building safety programme to ensure a fire like this can never happen again.”
Some 111 children have been referred for psychological help to deal with the Grenfell horror, according to NHS figures obtained by ITV’s Good Morning Britain.