Yahoo News Residents evacuated from Teesside block of flats over fire safety concerns
Residents living in a block of flats have been evacuated over fire safety concerns.
Thirteen tenants living in Dawson House, in Billingham, were forced out of their homes on Thursday. Jason Allison, who lives on the ground floor of Dawson House, told how he returned home around 10.30pm and there was “about 30 Thirteen staff” at the Queensway building.
“They’ve told us we’ve got to evacuate,” the Stockton man said. “They’re putting us in hotels because they said there’s some safety work to be carried out on the lifts.” He stated that the residents were told work could be ongoing for “a couple of weeks”, however, Thirteen stated that it would be for the "next few days".
A ‘pre-arranged safety inspection’ of the building found that smoke may not have been able to be ‘safely extracted’ from Dawson House in the event of a fire, Thirteen has confirmed.
Thirteen’s chief executive Matt Forrest said: “At Thirteen, we take our responsibility to provide safe, high-quality homes for each and every one of our customers extremely seriously. Following planned checks, undertaken as we prepare for future investment at Dawson House, we were alerted to the risk that we may not be able to safely extract all of the smoke from the emergency exits from the building, in the event of a fire.
“We will never knowingly allow our customers to live in a property where there is any risk of this kind, however small, and so, we’ve taken the difficult decision to evacuate all of our customers living in Dawson House, as a precaution, while we carry out work, initially over the next few days, to ensure we address the risks that have been identified.
“We’re supporting our customers throughout this time, providing comfortable accommodation, and we’ve set up dedicated support lines, should they need to speak to a member of the team at any time. We understand this is disruptive, but it is absolutely necessary, and we are extremely grateful to our customers for their patience during this time.”
In a letter to residents, seen by Teesside Live, Thirteen stated that the evacuation will “initially be for two to three days while further work is carried out”. They were asked to pack belongings for a couple of days, as well as medical supplies.
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