London fire chief: ‘Stay put’ advice for tower block blazes may no longer be viable

London's fire chief today called for urgent Government action to “reverse more than 20 years of neglect” on fire safety to prevent further Grenfell Tower-style disasters.

Dany Cotton warned that the lack of knowledge about which high-rise blocks were able to withstand blazes meant advice to residents to “stay put” and await rescue may no longer be viable.

A total of 72 Grenfell residents died in the inferno on June 14, 2017. Advice from fire brigade call-handlers to terrified residents who called 999 that night formed a key part of the public inquiry, which is due to issue its first report a fortnight today.

The advice was not revoked until until 2.47am, almost two hours after the fire began. One expert said the “stay put” policy had effectively failed an hour earlier. Ms Cotton was not in operational command but defended the policy when she appeared before the inquiry last year.

Today, in an update to the London Assembly, Ms Cotton, who retires next April aged 50, sought to focus attention on the Government’s lack of action.

She called on ministers to order urgent research on “buildings that fail” and to implement changes to building regulations to prevent future disasters.

This includes reviewing fire safety in residential buildings, a complete ban on combustible cladding, and for sprinklers to be fitted in more buildings, including purpose-built blocks of flats.

The “stay put” strategy is used by brigades across the UK where it is assumed a building’s design and construction will stop fire spreading. Ms Cotton called for new research into what the public and firefighters should do when a building fails.

She said: “Fire spread the entire height of Grenfell Tower in less than 30 minutes. Residents and firefighters were placed in impossible conditions we had never experienced before. That is why I am calling for the Government to reverse more than 20 years of neglect in relation to fire safety and to undertake urgent research on ‘buildings that fail’, which means ‘stay put’ advice is no longer viable in those buildings.

“Since 2014, there have been more than 5,000 high-rise fires in London alone and in the vast majority of these incidents ‘stay put’ advice has been effective. It’s very important for people to know that.

“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 London Fire Brigade admits that there would be “considerable challenges” in moving away from a “stay put” strategy as this would require mass evacuations from tall buildings with narrow staircases.

A total of 223 people escaped the Grenfell blaze. The inquiry’s first report will include findings about the nature of the building, the origins of the fire, how it spread, the response of the fire brigade and other emergency services. It will also contain several recommendations for the Prime Minister.

The Government said it banned combustible materials on the external walls of new high-rise homes last year and had identified all buildings over 18m with unsafe cladding.

It blamed landlords for the fact that people were still living in unsafe buildings and said it had made £600m available for remediation.

It said the National Fire Chiefs Council maintain that “stay put” is the correct advice in a purpose-built block of flats that is built and maintained correctly.

It said it was up to landlords to ensure residents know what to do in the event of a fire.

A Government spokesman said: “The Government is taking urgent action to ensure residents are safe in their homes and we never see a devastating tragedy like the fire at Grenfell Tower again.

“This includes introducing 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.”