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Greater Manchester fire service confirms 'get out, stay out' advice
Greater Manchester’s fire service has confirmed it advises residents of high-rise buildings to “get out” if a fire breaks out in another part of the block, unless a specific plan for the building is in place.
The service confirmed to Inside Housing that its position differs from that of the London Fire Brigade (LFB), which reissued its ‘stay put’ policy last Friday.
In a statement, Geoff Harris, director of prevention and protection at the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said the brigade’s advice “remains that if you have a fire or become aware of a fire in your home which includes blocks of flats, you should get out, stay out and call us out”.
“If you live in a block of flats where your landlord has advised you to ‘stay put’ in the event of a fire, this is their advice which they should have based on an individual fire risk assessment for that building,” he added.
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Landlords were briefed by Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, and Peter O’Reilly, chief executive of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, last week to clarify this advice.
Matthew Gardiner, chief executive of Trafford Housing Trust, said: “They are saying the default position is get out. But they recognised that a number of landlords have got properties with good compartmentation, and if you have got that then there is no reason to evacuate all the residents.”
Lee Sugden, chief executive of Salix Homes, said Mr O’Reilly had stressed that different policies are appropriate for different buildings and that a “carte blanche” approach was not appropriate.
The LFB’s website states that it is “usually safer” to stay put if a fire is in another part of the building.
It reads: “By ‘staying put’ it will reduce the risk of you entering a smoky corridor unnecessarily and potentially being overcome by smoke.
“It will also allow our firefighters to tackle the fire safely and quickly without being delayed by many residents evacuating down the stairways.”
Reissuing the advice last week, Dan Daly, assistant commissioner for fire safety at the LFB, said he could “fully understand why people who live in high rises have questions about their safety” and that it is “vitally important” that residents know about their building’s fire escape plan.
The ‘stay put’ policy has been the focus of debate following the Grenfell Tower fire, in which many people died after remaining in their flats.
