The Fire Brigades Union is urging fire authorities and the government to learn the lessons of the Lakanal House fire, while warning that cuts to the fire service will undermine efforts to prevent similar tragedies in the future. The union was responding to the coroner’s inquest verdict published today.
Andy Dark, FBU assistant general secretary said: “I would like to express our condolences to the families and friends of those who died at the Lakanal House fire and assure them that firefighters and their union will scrutinise the coroner’s report, to ensure the service learns the lessons from this tragedy.
“Lakanal House like many similar buildings around the country underwent alterations over the years, with little regard for ensuring that fire protection standards were maintained and improved. The fire shows the need for maintenance and continuous improvement in the fire protection systems of buildings.
“The fire also shows the importance of introducing a high-quality risk assessment process for such buildings, coupled with rigorous and frequent inspection of high-rise buildings by the fire and rescue service. It is appalling that the fire risks at Lakanal House had never been properly assessed.
“To assess the risk of fire in a complex high-rise residential building, a person needs a good knowledge of fire protection systems and the behaviour of fire. The appropriate level of knowledge cannot be obtained on a one day training course. London Fire Brigade should not have been selling one day training courses to people who were assessing fire risk in other high rise buildings in Southwark.
“There was clear and unambiguous evidence presented to the inquest that the household fire safety leafleting campaign, which fire services up and down the country have introduced as a substitute for fire cover, was totally ineffective.
“The fire service across the UK has been decimated over the last ten years. Government funding cuts and the failure of chief officers and fire authorities to join with the FBU to defend our vital service means that we are stretched to the limit.
“Peckham fire station, the closest one to Lakanal House, is set to lose a fire engine if the mayor of London imposes his cuts. The Borough of Southwark is due to lose one third of its appliances and one quarter of its fire stations. Cuts like these will slow response times and will lead to more deaths and injuries at fires.
“The FBU has consistently protested against the government’s abandonment of standards and its lack of scrutiny of the fire and rescue service. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) says a lot about bin collections, whilst abandoning the fire service and public safety. We will be making detailed submissions to the DCLG Select Committee at Westminster after Easter.”
