A London council has pleaded guilty to four counts of breaking fire safety regulations over a blaze in a 14-storey tower block that killed six people.
Southwark council admitted it failed to address fire risks at Lakanal House in Camberwell, south-east London, in the years leading up to the UK’s worst ever tower block fire on 3 July 2009, The Guardian reports.
The fire, which an inquest previously found had started in a television in a ninth-floor flat, spread through the 1958-built block of 98 maisonettes with a ferocity that baffled firefighters and terrified residents.
Those who died had been told to stay in their homes by 999 operators, who believed fire safety measures would be sufficient to prevent flames and smoke from reaching them.
London Fire Brigade, which is responsible for enforcing fire safety laws, originally brought 22 charges against Southwark, but in a hearing at Southwark crown court, the council agreed instead to plead guilty to four charges on a revised indictment.
Outlining the case against Southwark, Stephen Walsh QC, representing the fire brigade, said: “It was a serious fire from about four o’clock in the afternoon on that warm day. It started in a piece of electrical equipment in a bedroom in a flat on the ninth floor.
“Tragically, six people, including three children, died on the 10th and 11th floors. But it’s of great importance that I make the point that this prosecution is concerned with the risks that existed prior to the fire, because that’s what the fire safety order is concerned with.”
Dave Lewis of the Sceaux Gardens Tenants and Residents Association, who lives in Marie Curie House, an identical block opposite Lakanal House, said: “It was a very tragic day back in 2009; three children, one 20 days old, lost their lives.
“I think it’s appropriate for the London Fire Brigade to bring this case against Southwark council. I think Southwark … have put a lot of time, energy and money into improving fire safety in high-rise [blocks] and beyond there.
“However, I think this case is needed because the message needs to go out to landlords, social or otherwise, that they have responsibilities that can’t be ignored.”
Dan Daly, London Fire Brigade’s assistant commissioner for fire safety, said their advice in the event of a similar incident remains the same: “If buildings are built and maintained correctly, walls, floors and doors in flats and maisonettes give you protection from fire – a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes – so, if there is a fire elsewhere in the building but not inside your home you’re safer staying in your flat unless heat or smoke is affecting you. Stay put and call 999,” he said.
“If you leave your flat you could be rushing into choking smoke, the fire itself or firefighters using equipment to bring the fire under control in another part of the building.”
A Southwark spokeswoman said the council accepted responsibility for the fire and had spent £62m on fire risk assessment programmes since.
