Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service has begun a review of fire safety provision for high rise accommodation.

This comes in the wake of the events in London, where a fire in the high rise flats at Grefnell Tower has claimed the lives of at least 30 people. That number is expected to rise.

Fire crews and staff have been visiting members of the public to reassure and remind them of fire safety procedure.

A statement from Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service said: “Our firefighters and community fire safety staff have been out and about in all areas, reassuring the public, providing face-to-face guidance on key messages in respect of fire plans, the use of lifts, evacuation, smoke alarms and dialling 999.

“Additionally, we have begun an immediate review of the high rise accommodation fire safety provision in Lancashire, regardless of how recently they were last audited.”

There are 73 premises in Lancashire listed as high rise, which requires the building to be six floors or taller. 66 of these buildings are residential for either students or the general public.

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All have had a fire safety audit between 2010 and 2017.

Further information from Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service is available below.

What Fire Control taking 999 calls tell someone reporting a fire in high rise premises

If the Fire Plan for the building is not ‘Stay Put’

• Get Out Stay Out
• Follow Evacuation Policy
• Do not use the lift
• If you find that you can’t get to a safe place, ring the fire service again on 999

Or for ‘Stay Put’

• If there is a ‘Stay Put’ policy and the caller is safe and is not in the flat where the fire is, then stay put
• If the situation changes, then inform the fire service immediately, dialling 999
• If the caller wants to evacuate then we ask them to follow the building’s evacuation route
• If they can’t get to a safe place, ring the fire service again on 999

‘Stay Put’ policy

‘Stay Put’ is an accepted standard for high rise premises and complies with current guidance.  The design of the type of building where it applies is such that a fire in a flat should not break out of where it started and spread to other flats or common areas in the building, such as corridors or staircases.

The intention is that those in the flat where the fire has occurred, alerted by smoke detection in their flat, will escape and firefighters will attack the fire.

If all residents evacuated at once, the resulting congestion on the staircases in the building would dangerously hinder their escape and would compromise access for firefighters headed for the fire.