Fire chiefs are warning high rise residents to know their escape routes after new figures showed 24 fires hit the borough’s blocks of flats and maisonettes last year.
The figures follow a survey commissioned by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) which found more than 60 per cent of all London’s high rise residents — 760,000 households — don’t have a fire escape plan.
To tackle the confusion, the Brigade has launched a new campaign called Know The Plan.
It will run for 12 months and aims to ensure landlords and housing providers act on their fire responsibilities while residents know what to do in a fire.
LFB borough commander for Newham, Wayne Brown, said: “Living in a flat is not more dangerous than living in a house, but it’s important to know that your fire plan should be different.
“Flats and maisonettes are built to give you some protection from fire — a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 60. Walls, floors and doors will hold back flames and smoke for a time.”
However he added it was usually safer to stay in your flat if there was a fire elsewhere in the building unless the heat or smoke is affecting you.
The results of a YouGov poll commissioned by the Brigade found that about a quarter of Londoners live in high rise or other purpose built blocks of flats or maisonettes
Visit knowtheplan.co.uk for more information and always dial 999 in an emergency.
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