Agenda item

The Borough Commander of the London Fire Brigade to be heard.

The Group heard a verbal update from the Borough Commander of the London Fire Brigade.

The Borough Commander explained that figures of fires in the City of London were very low, and that the main area of concern was due to automatic fire alarms being set off with increasing frequency.  He explained that the approach to this system would likely need addressing. 

The Borough Commander confirmed that the total number of recorded fires in dwellings last year was just 6.  The Director of Community & Children's Services asked if any of these fires had taken place in a tower block, and the Borough Commander agreed to check this. (10)  The Chairman asked if there had been a change of methods since the Grenfell Tower incident.  The Borough Commander confirmed that there had been significant changes in the response protocol for high-rise buildings, and particularly for those with cladding in their construction.  The Chairman asked if there was accessible data on the locations of cladded buildings, to which the Borough Commander confirmed that they relied on government data which was not exhaustive.  The Borough Commander explained that a particular issue arising post-Grenfell was that many private properties had adapted to an “everybody out” policy over one that favoured remaining inside.  This change has raised the concern of fire access pathways being blocked by evacuating civilians

RESOLVED – That the Borough Commander be heard.