Disabled person deeply concerned with fire from his second floor flat?
trinidadone
Posts: 3,337 Forumite
A work colleague lives in social housing on the second floor of a block of flats. He uses a wheel chair to get about inside the flat, and walking aids while outside.
In light of the recent fire in West London, he is deeply concerned about fire in his block. The current advise is to stay in your flat, as fire is expected to be contained in a block.
His only escape would be a lift, which is usually not used in the event of a fire.
His block as gone through a regeneration scheme in the last few years.
Should he bring his concern to the landlord on how best to exit a fire in an emergency, or simply not worry, as blocks are extremely safe?
In light of the recent fire in West London, he is deeply concerned about fire in his block. The current advise is to stay in your flat, as fire is expected to be contained in a block.
His only escape would be a lift, which is usually not used in the event of a fire.
His block as gone through a regeneration scheme in the last few years.
Should he bring his concern to the landlord on how best to exit a fire in an emergency, or simply not worry, as blocks are extremely safe?
Trinidad - The hottest place to go
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I'm surprised he doens't already know the safest exit in case of emergency. Any concerns he should talk to the landlord of course.trinidadone wrote: »A work colleague lives in social housing on the second floor of a block of flats. He uses a wheel chair to get about inside the flat, and walking aids while outside.
In light of the recent fire in West London, he is deeply concerned about fire in his block. The current advise is to stay in your flat, as fire is expected to be contained in a block.
His only escape would be a lift, which is usually not used in the event of a fire.
His block as gone through a regeneration scheme in the last few years.
Should he bring his concern to the landlord on how best to exit a fire in an emergency, or simply not worry, as blocks are extremely safe?0 -
Why are you surprised a disabled person does not know how to vacate a building safely in an emergency?Trinidad - The hottest place to go0
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Because i'm disabled and if i lived in a block of flats like that then i'd want to know how to vacate the building in a emergency, that's why. Meaning i would have already found out before now.trinidadone wrote: »Why are you surprised a disabled person does not know how to vacate a building safely in an emergency?0 -
I have a disabled son and we live in a house. I have plans in place to escape in case of fire, even if we're upstairs. If we lived in a flat, I would consider escape plans to be even more important.
OP, can your colleague check to see what type of cladding is on his building? I understand that Grenfell was clad using Reynobond PE, but there is another type of cladding called Reynobond FR, which is fire resistant and only costs £2 more per square metre. It's possible that the flats have been clad in a fire resistant material and he isn't aware. However, he should still consider his options in the event of a fire.
This link is quite interesting, and refers to landlords needing to have a fire risk assessment - I don't know if it is any help, but it might be worth reading.
http://www.elitefire.co.uk/fire-escape-guide-for-wheelchair-users/0 -
poppy12345 wrote: »Because i'm disabled and if i lived in a block of flats like that then i'd want to know how to vacate the building in a emergency, that's why. Meaning i would have already found out before now.
And are you aware of how long the person has lived at the address? and are you aware when the persons disability occurred? Do you know if the disability has now affected how the individual can leave the building? do you know if the regeneration work has affected the exit of the building?
You seem to be aware of quite alot with the little information shared on here!!!Trinidad - The hottest place to go0 -
kingfisherblue wrote: »I have a disabled son and we live in a house. I have plans in place to escape in case of fire, even if we're upstairs. If we lived in a flat, I would consider escape plans to be even more important.
OP, can your colleague check to see what type of cladding is on his building? I understand that Grenfell was clad using Reynobond PE, but there is another type of cladding called Reynobond FR, which is fire resistant and only costs £2 more per square metre. It's possible that the flats have been clad in a fire resistant material and he isn't aware. However, he should still consider his options in the event of a fire.
This link is quite interesting, and refers to landlords needing to have a fire risk assessment - I don't know if it is any help, but it might be worth reading.
http://www.elitefire.co.uk/fire-escape-guide-for-wheelchair-users/
Thank you for the "non-judgement" information. I found the link very interesting. I am assuming the colleague can check with the landlord on the type of cladding used on the block as he may not know.
I did find the following information helpful from your link, thank you:
"Lifts are usually prohibited during an emergency evacuation, which means alternative methods must be arranged for transporting wheelchair users safely out of the building. This can involve using specific evacuation lifts, moving wheelchairs users horizontally to another fire compartment within the building, using evacuation chairs or employing ‘carry-down’ procedures, which involve carrying someone in a wheelchair up or down a set of stairs".
I think i will discuss your link with him later this morning.Trinidad - The hottest place to go0 -
I wasn't judging anyone! you asked i told! Why would i judge when i'm disabled myself?! It's a fact that if i lived in a block of flats i would want to know the escape route incase of emergency! How long your friend has been disabled or how long he's loved there doens't come into it!! Now i've answered, it's time to move on....trinidadone wrote: »And are you aware of how long the person has lived at the address? and are you aware when the persons disability occurred? Do you know if the disability has now affected how the individual can leave the building? do you know if the regeneration work has affected the exit of the building?
You seem to be aware of quite alot with the little information shared on here!!!0 -
Does his block have a central fire alarm, or a sprinkler system?
How certain is he that his flat is fully seperate from neighbouring flats? This is something he could raise with the landlord.
Does his flat have a 60 minute fire door at its entrance? The landlord may be prepared to upgrade to 60 minutes if the current door is only rated to 30 minutes. Are the smoke seals on any fire door in good order?
Most private landlords are not fire safety experts and might only assess the risks from an able-bodied person's point of view.The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.0 -
I am a wheelchair user and have recently had a home visit from my local fire brigade. I think that most (all) fire brigades will do this as a free service. Well worth it.0
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poppy12345 wrote: »I wasn't judging anyone! you asked i told! Why would i judge when i'm disabled myself?! It's a fact that if i lived in a block of flats i would want to know the escape route in case of emergency! How long your friend has been disabled or how long he's loved there doesn't come into it!! Now I've answered, it's time to move on....
yes you are being judgement, and I am "surprised" your doing that!! no idea why, maybe your trolling. Its a colleague, not a friend, and yes it does have a baring on how long the disability is, and how long he "loved" there. Let me educate you............ His needs are different from before, so his fire exit plan has now changed, base on his disability. What he could do before, he is unable to now. As you can read from the first post, he uses crutches when exiting his home. Because of this, he is currently unable to use stairs, and again as mentioned before, he has been advised not to use the lift.
This is why I thought I would post here on his behalf.Trinidad - The hottest place to go0
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