London Fire Brigade

Forcing residential buildings to have an expensive and costly waking watch is a SCAM and is not an accurate risk assessment. LFB tried to force once tiny 15 flat block (under 18m) here to pay £1200 EACH A MONTH to have a waking watch here because one balcony caught fire (didnt spread, was spotted and put out quickly). Totally unreasonable and not reflective of risk. LFB also caused one block to fail EWS1 because they said it was too much effort to open a wooden unlocked gate to gain access to back of building, despite the fire engine being able to park outside gate. This block is also under 18m and not a high rise.Plenty of houses have alot less access yet we are penalised. Your fire risk assessments are ruining lives, causing untold misery, depression, bankruptcy and lack any common sense because you side on extreme caution. Stop forcing the Waking Watch on buildings! It is just paying min wage men to sleep in stairwells and play on phones and is NOT saving lives. Completely unreasonable and profiteering at the expense of leaseholders.

More open days and events. They used to do yearly big events at headquarters showing off firefighting skills. These should happen again, public displays of skills and equipment are great in engaging the public. Otherwise, let them get on with their work.

I remember times when we received information and support about smoke alarms and fire safety from the London Fire brigade and I found it is missing now. What should we have at home to protect ourselves, in the case of a fire. Having alarms is one thing... but what about letting us know what fire extinguisher could be helpful ? Let us say a candle has been left lit and reaches the floor and a few flames are now on the floor.... Which fire extinguisher could be best to have handy.... I was thinking about it the other day... i would appreciate some advice about this.. by someone professional coming to my home... Could this be possible? Thank you for all your care...

I think the Fire Brigade do a difficult job and don't always get the respect that they deserve.

I agree with what others have said about outreach, when my daughters were at young they looked forward to having a fire engine at the school fetes, or someone coming into their school to talk about their role as a firefighter. As a Guide Leader we had someone come in a talk about Fire Safety and Fire Prevention.

Not many people are aware that if you have young children, elderly or disabled that the Brigade can come out and do a Fire Safety Check .

As other people have said Education and being part of the community is a key.

Hello,

The LFB must be supported financially to be abe to return to and to increase the essential proactive work that they were once relied upon to provide. The return of mandatory inspections
of buildings, places of work, leisure etc.

In addition, the FBU must reach out to and secure regular support with local authority tenants organising with their own housing associations. Exactly the type of tenants association set up by the tenants at Grenfell as they struggled against their reckless local authority at RBKC as they tried to ensure fire safety standards were maintained. Get the LFB involved.

The fiasco that is WAKING WATCH and the role LFB has played in the Cladding Scandal is a concern.

I am currently expected to contribute towards the £31k per month waking watch at High Point Village. It was implemented late Feb 2021! Waking Watch is on top of an eye water service charge that has gone from £1.526,284 in 2014 to £2.526,188 in 2019 (Ballymore’s actual service charge figures).

I think there is an enormous amount of trust and respect for the fire brigade. I think what others have said about outreach to local schools and communities is so important. Education will help to prevent many incidents that the brigade would be needed to manage and that education could last a lifetime.

I think the fire London brigade should still come out and complete fire safety check when required and should ensure that they have the man power to do so.

We all know self regulation does not work and has disastrous results.

The London fire Brigade needs to adopt a more authoritive enforcement role again and be, 'out there', in our communities

The fire brigade must be seen to be out there preventing fires not shutting the door once the horse has bolted.

There are so many private land Lords in London that do not comply with any fire safety rules particularly in over crowded HMOs

The London fire brigade should be out there once more. Operating as an enforcement body, prosecuting bad landlords, with an increased fine to an unlimited amount. Be the strong arm of the law once more.. Be seen .be active. Be preventative. Do not rely of self regulation. Too many deaths have been lost to self regulation. What the fire brigade need to do is get out there completing fire safety checks at face to face inspections. Be seen!!! ACT PREVENT FIRES rather than spray water on fires that need not have happened. Take action to stop fires starting. Be seen to be present

When my son was at nursery school he used to enjoy the occasional visit to the local fire station.

Do FBs go into junior and secondary schools to talk about their work, for career sessions?

Make your presence know in social media. Including community and neighbourhood message boards such as Nextdoor.

Given the enormous crisis in multi-storey, multi-occupied residential buildings, and the fact that around half of buildings affected are in the London, LFB needs to lead the way in developing a) a different approach to commenting on planning applications for such buildings, insisting on sprinklers, double stair cases, 360 degree site accessibility for large appliances to tackle fires and rescue people, and prevent tall buildings being built so close together that fire could easily jump buildings b) secure the funds to make regular site visits, c)create a public information campaign that explains to the thousands of people living in such buildings, many of whom do not have English as a language, how to prevent fires and then what to do in the event of a fire, d) establish a policy for people living in such buildings and want to buy smoke hoods, e)have more tall appliances in the locations where these buildings are and where the risk is, f) work effectively with local authorities in London to create a strong data base of such buildings and the risks they contain, g) continue to engage with people living in such buildings to gain their feedback, but at a much higher level of engagement than now. I am a huge fan of LFB and recognise the huge toll that the past years have taken on the brigade and staff, however the LFB must move out of its current defensive position and come out fighting on the front foot for the safety of current and future Londoners.

We have an excellent rapport in our Napier Place W14 neighbourhood in Holland Ward with the LFB. Adjacent to our mews street and cul de sac there is a corporate freeholder, Borrisbrook Properties Ltd, owner of Kenton Court on Kensington High Street and claimant (though not as the legal freeholder) to the land known as the Kenton Court car park. For years this freeholder has sought planning permission to construct a row of houses on the land represented by the car park, but permission has always been refused by the RBKC Planning Dept. and any appeals have been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate. The freeholder will not take "no" for an answer - and always tries again by submitting yet another application.

After the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire, our neighbourhood appealed to the LFB to give us a view about the danger to life, especially to the residents of Kenton Court, if the car park (to which they have rights) were built upon and emergency access and egress compromised. The LFB wrote at a very senior level to the RBKC to ensure that such access they would need in any emergency was not obstructed by new buildings.

Some while later, the LFB service was called upon to deal with some loose drain pipes, that had come away from their wall supports in high winds, from Kenton Court's rear ten storey tower block. The LFB demonstrated with their turntable ladder vehicle how important the entire car park was to enable to deal with the situation. It was an intervention that characterizes the good neighbourliness of the LFB.

The example is but one of many ways the LFB helps the public. Recent floods provide another perfect example of their selfless engagement to assist the public.

Checking on fire prevention measures in rented properties and for vulnerable members of the community who may not be able to change smoke alarms etc themselves would be good and prevent some rogue landlords not fulfilling their obligations

Potential areas beyond the existing response to emergency calls might include:
1) More oversight and if required intervention in fire safety, especially of high rise buildings
2) Improved/revised techniques for evacuating or rescuing residents from high rise buildings
3) Flood management and communicating imminent flood risk
4) Community awareness events on sources of fire and areas of flood risk
It may be that some or all of these are already part of the activities of the LFB. My apologies if they are and I just do not know. But if they are and I do not know, then community communication could be improved.