Oral report.
Minutes:
The Chief Fire Officer introduced Group Manager Tony Crook to provide Members with an update on the Grenfell Tower Fire investigation process and the actions being undertaken to reassure the public in Lancashire.
The Grenfell Tower Fire occurred on 14 June 2017 at the 24-storey tower block. It caused at least 80 deaths and over 70 injuries. A definitive death toll was not expected until at least 2018. Sadly, this was the biggest loss of life from fire in the UK in a generation.
GM Crook advised that the Public Inquiry had opened on 14 September 2017. Police and Fire services believed that the fire had started accidentally in a fridge-freezer on the fourth floor. The rapid growth of the fire was thought to have increased by the building’s exterior cladding which was of a common type in widespread use.
An independent review of building regulations and fire safety had been launched. The National Fire Chiefs Council was co-ordinating a Fire and Rescue Services’ inspection of high rise premises and the Building Research Establishment were testing all ACM (aluminium composite) cladding material.
The National Fire Chiefs Council had put forward a submission to the Inquiry, outlining what it thought should be included in the terms of reference to help shape the Inquiry; this included: a review of the Building Regulations and associated guidance; the role of building control and approved inspectors; the relationship between the Housing Act and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order; the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order; Firefighting equipment and fixed installations in high rise premises (sprinklers); Competency of Fire Risk Assessors; Competency of the construction industry to understand and apply appropriate fire safety measures when constructing or refurbishing a building; suitability of tests for materials used in building construction, and in this case for high-rise buildings. This should include the appropriateness of desk-top studies to assess the compliance of building materials and solutions to the Building Regulations; Stay Put evacuation strategy; the role of other Category 1 and 2 responders within the Civil Contingencies Act, in both the Response and Recovery phases of the incident; the (Construction Design and Management) Regulations; review of DCLG Fire Safety Guides including LACORS; product recall – white goods and how the fire service is organised to provide the 999 operational response to fires in high rise buildings.
It was noted that North West Fire and Rescue Services via the North West protection Task Group was leading on developing the National Fire Chiefs Council position statement for ‘the suitability of tests for materials used in building construction, and in this case for high-rise buildings’.
The Authority was pleased to note that at the Lancashire County Council’s full Council meeting held on 20 July 2017 a resolution was unanimously approved that called for the Government to legislate for the retro-fitting of sprinklers into residential high-rise buildings and that this should be called the Grenfell Act in memory of many lives lost in the disaster and it resolved to install sprinklers in all new Lancashire County Council schools and major school extensions.
GM Crook advised that inspections had been carried out by the Service with the current position as follows:
‘Residential high rise’ buildings- 100% of 72 had been inspected of which 1 building had been found with ACM cladding panels on the top storey of a 6?storey building; this was being managed locally to limit the risk;
‘Other high rise’ buildings – 83% of 48 had been inspected;
‘Lancashire’s Hospitals’ – 40% of 30 sites had been inspected;
‘Schools’ – to be completed, however it was noted that no school fell into the category of 18 metres or more.
The findings from the above inspections would be reviewed to inform our risk based inspection programme for 2018/19, along with the recommendations from the Public Inquiry and potential future governmental changes to fire safety standards.
It was noted that as from 17 July 2017 the Service had assisted Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service for a period of 7 weeks undertaking 130 inspections.
RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted the report.