West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has increased the number of fire appliances it sends to high-rise flat fires following the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Fire chiefs now send six appliances rather than four to confirmed flat fires in high-rise blocks (six storeys or above) and eight to those blocks with cladding which has failed flammability tests.
Within West Yorkshire the fire service has records of 687 high-rise blocks, including 50 in Kirklees and 47 in Calderdale.
Recent fires at high-rise blocks in West Yorkshire have resulted in a “spontaneous evacuation” by residents which means more firefighters are needed to assist fleeing residents, according to a fire service Community Safety committee report.
Due to be discussed on Friday, the report says the Grenfell Tower fire has led to residents’ questioning ‘stay put’ policies that are in place in the majority of high-rise premises in West Yorkshire.
The ‘stay put’ policy – residents should only evacuate if their own flat is on fire – has come under scrutiny but West Yorkshire fire chiefs have restated that this is the safest approach “for the overwhelming majority of cases.”
The report states: “Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy we have attended incidents in high-rise blocks that have resulted in a spontaneous evacuation of the building by the residents.
“This requires additional command and control arrangements to be put in place by the initial incident commander and as such requires additional resources to support any evacuation.”
It adds: “In light of this, the pre-determined attendance (PDA) for a confirmed flat fire has been increased by two appliances from four to six appliances, one of which will be a CARP (Combined Aerial Rescue Pump).
“In addition to this we have also reviewed what we would send to a fire at a high-rise where the building has cladding which has failed the recent government flammability tests.
“The pre-determined attendance for these premises is now eight appliances, two of which will be CARPs, to ensure sufficient firefighting capability is in attendance to monitor and restrict external fire spread wherever possible.”
Following the Grenfell Tower fire, crews in West Yorkshire have been carrying out familiarisation visits with high-rise premises to ensure operational knowledge is up to date.
Committee members will be verbally informed at the meeting the number of cladding fire safety failure notifications issued in West Yorkshire and actions which have been taken.
Residents of Jumples Court, Mixenden Court and Wheatley Court at Mixenden, Halifax, were told this month that their cladding was unsafe and would be removed.
