Chris Callow, head of policy for fire safety regulation, London Fire Brigade, describes how a series of detailed care home inspections identified some serious fire safety failures, which are likely to be common to other care homes across the country
The impact of a fire in any type of property can be devastating, but the vulnerability of residents in care homes requires the highest levels of management control to ensure that complex fire protection arrangements are effective and staff actions in an emergency are clearly understood and implemented.
In 2017, two people died in a Cheshunt care home after a fire travelled through voids in the roof that allowed it to quickly engulf the entire building. Crews from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue and London Fire Brigade found many residents in their rooms who were too frail to move themselves to safety. The fire travelled with great ferocity through the roof void covering the whole building and conditions quickly deteriorated, leading to a full scale rescue operation. Miraculously, 33 residents were rescued.
Back in 2004, a serious fire at Rosepark care home in Scotland broke out. Sadly, 14 elderly residents died. An inquiry found that their deaths could have been prevented if a ‘suitable’ fire safety plan had been in place. The inquiry also found that the care home had failed to consider the worst case scenario – a fire breaking out at night. Sheriff Brian Lockhart delivered his findings in 2011 and highlighted the fact that too many people were being housed in one corridor for it to have been possible to evacuate them effectively.
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