Tower block blaze deaths safety check
 | | THE Camberwell tower block where the tragedy happened |
ALL 78 high rise blocks in Islington are to be checked - as a fireman warns that the blaze that killed six people in Camberwell could happen here.
The Islington firefighter claims that however safe a block is, it only takes someone to wedge open a fire door to make it a potential death trap.
The man, who would not be named, said: "Every multi-occupancy building is at risk. However well you protect something, someone has only got to leave a fire door open and then the fire spreads. There is no way a council can guarantee it could not happen here.
"Maybe the council should make sure that people are aware of how to get out if there is a fire - and if they have to print the signs in 10 different languages, so be it."
Islington Council has announced that all its tower blocks comply with fire safety regulations.
But it has ordered further checks in the wake of the Camberwell blaze, which started when a fire broke out on the ninth floor of the 14-storey 1959-built Lakanal House on Friday.
Concerns have mainly been raised about Lakanal House's single central staircase - which had to be used by both firefighters and fleeing residents.
In Islington, there are 78 blocks with seven or more storeys. And 51 of them only have a single staircase. They include the 19-storey Hind, Talbot, Citizen and Lillingston House towers, on the Harvist Estate, off Hornsey Road, Holloway, and the 17-storey Ilex House, off Crouch Hill. But in London, the highest a fire ladder can reach is 10 floors.
Retired architect Harley Sherlock, who has worked on social housing in Islington, believes the borough is at risk. Mr Sherlock said: "I think these blocks are dangerous. Nineteen storeys is too high to have just one staircase. A fire ladder can't reach that far. Any block which is higher than a fire ladder can reach should have two staircases.
"Otherwise if one staircase is blocked, people have no other option. We have got a bit blasé."
But the Liberal Democrat-run Islington Council is insisting there is no undue cause for concern.
A spokesman said: "We know which of our high-rise blocks are similar to those in Camberwell and we are satisfied that appropriate fire protection measures are in place.
"All our blocks comply with building regulations and all have fire audits.
"Nevertheless, Islington Council is reviewing the safety of all our blocks - not just high rises - with the fire brigade.
"While the precise details of the Camberwell fire are yet to emerge, we are keen to implement any recommendations that come out of the fire brigade's report.
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