London fire chief admits ‘stay put’ advice was wrong for Grenfell block
LONDON Fire Brigade called for the Government to carry out an urgent review of the controversial “stay put” policy that led firefighters to tell people to remain in their homes as fire consumed Grenfell Tower.
Dany Cotton, the London Fire Commissioner, yesterday admitted the policy was not suitable for a building such as Grenfell, where the failure of basic fire safety features led to the flames engulfing the 24-storey building in just half an hour.
She said the “stay put” policy only worked in buildings where the blaze was contained within the flat or apartment where it had started, which did not happen at Grenfell, leading to the death of 72 people in the early hours of June 14 2017.
Speaking a few weeks before the publication of the first phase of the Grenfell Tower inquiry report, Ms Cotton told the Greater London Assembly’s fire, resilience and emergency planning committee: “We are calling for urgent research on buildings that fail because buildings that fail mean ‘stay put’ advice is no longer viable.”
Ms Cotton has previously defended the policy of advising residents to stay in their flats in the event of fire as suitable for high-rise towers.
She told the inquiry into the tragedy last year that the rapid spread of fire up the outside of the tower was so unexpected that firefighters were right to give the advice.
But yesterday, she said “[Grenfell] was never designed or built for mass evacuation. It is completely understandable that stay-put advice has been questioned, but we are talking about buildings that fail, rather than advice that fails and there is no clear alternative, which is why this research is needed.”
The Grenfell report is expected to severely criticise the brigade’s response when it is released later this month. Ms Cotton is understood to have been given sight of the criticisms of the brigade contained in the report
Yesterday, she also called on the Government to reverse “20 years of neglect” on fire safety, which she said had led to dozens of high-rise buildings across the country being potentially unsafe in the event of fire.
Ms Cotton maintained that it was this neglect that had led to a number of accumulated factors that meant it was impossible to tackle the Grenfell fire once it spread.
Water from fire hoses had no effect on cladding that was both burning from behind and made from flammable but waterproof material; stairwells filled with choking, toxic smoke; and the heat of the building rising to 150C, “creating a psychological and physical barrier to escape”.
A government spokesman said: “We are taking urgent action to ensure residents are safe in their homes. This includes the biggest reforms in building and fire safety in nearly 40 years and making sure unsafe buildings are identified and significant steps are taken to protect those who live there.”