Nearly 18 months after the Grenfell Tower fire only 4% of London’s high-rise council blocks have sprinklers.
32 out of 831 council owned building that are above 30m have sprinklers fitted. Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones said the government should set up a fire safety fund to help the councils.
Before the Grenfell fire only nine towers that are ten storeys or higher had sprinklers fitted; after the fire 23 more towers have had sprinklers installed (majority owned by Croydon Council). Several councils across London do have plans to install sprinklers following the fire.
Angela Bracher, who is a resident in one of the tower blocks with sprinklers, said the sprinklers in her flat made her feel “very, very secure”.
She added: “I was upset about the Grenfell fire, it was so shocking, and it made me feel that I wouldn’t live as far as the ninth or tenth floor.
“When we received notice about the sprinklers I jumped. I feel so much more safe.”
The Grenfell tower happened just before 01:00 on 14th June 2017. The fire started in a kitchen on the fourth floor. Grenfell tower was a 23 storeys block in North Kensington, West London. Within minutes the fire spread up the block of flats and then spread to all four sides of the building. By 03:00 most of the tower was a light. 72 people lost their lives in the fire with many trying to escape.
The fire begun by a fridge freezer in flat 16 on the fourth floor, the fire brigade was called at 00;54 and by 00.59 four fire engines arrived at the scene. At 02.06 the London Fire Bridge declared the fire a major incident. And at that point 40 fire engines were on route to the scene. On the night people were told to stay in their flats but then they got trapped in by the fire and a thick poisonous smoke spread up the stairs. Some people ignored the advice and made their way-out safety. A total of 65 people was rescued from the building by firefighters but in panic many went upstairs to camp out in other people’s flats, all 24 people died. The youngest victim was only six months old and died in her mothers arms as they tried to escape.
