Countless Fire Safety Hazards in Tower Blocks Across the Country

Since the Grenfell Tower disaster in London during June 2017 there has been widespread investigations of tower blocks right across England to determine whether there are similar fire safety flaws that require urgent attention and resolution.

During the investigations so far it has been found that there are hundreds of tower blocks that fail fire safety standards, including broken fire doors and holes that could be an easy way for fire to spread throughout residential complexes. The investigation, led by Inside Housing, of 436 social housing blocks revealed that 268 of those blocks had damaged fire doors. The doors were either of an inadequate standard or were unable to close properly.

80 people have been confirmed to have died during the Grenfell Tower disaster in June, many of them as they attempted to escape from the flames in the 24-storey tower block. On top of the fire door issues, it was also discovered that 71 residential tower blocks had an insufficient amount and quality of emergency lighting in stairwells, with 73 blocks provided with little to no fire safety information in the event of an emergency.

Fire Safety Assessments are still being carried out on many of the tower blocks around England, but worryingly around 4,000 of those do not legally have to carry out the assessments within a specific time-frame due to their private ownership.

Ahmarra are working closely with our trade organisation, ASDMA (Architectural and Specialist Door Manufacturer’s Association) to ensure that the dangers of not installing certified fire doors are recognised as well as working within the industry to promote best practice.

We have manufactured and installed fully certified fire doors for many social housing projects, including Southampton Tower Blocks. To read more, click here.