Almost two and a half years since the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in London, most of the cladding is still on eight of the tower blocks owned by Salford City Council and managed by Pendleton Together, with no sign of it coming down.
Now, via a Freedom of Information request from a tenant, the full horror of defects in one of the blocks, Malus Court, can be revealed through a series of Fire Risk Assessments by Total Fire Safety.
The reports for 2019 are 'not available' but these assessments which were valid in 2017 and 2018 show a catalogue of dangers with which residents were living. While most of the faults might have been sorted now, it appears obvious from these reports that, had a fire broken out, the risks of emergency lighting not working, smoke filled escape routes, fire doors not working, and dodgy evacuation procedures for disabled and vulnerable tenants could have led to catastrophe.
The following defects were flagged up in red in the report from 2017, in the wake of Grenfell, with a ranking of Risk To Life: Moderate...Risk To Property: Substantial...
"Problems have been identified with fire doors...Non-compliant gap to the underside of the fire door/Travel of smoke into means of escape"..."Concerns with the building compartmentation have been identified"..."There is no or limited servicing of the fire detection and alarm system"...
"There is limited or no maintenance of fire fighting equipment to meet requirements of BS 5306-3:2009 standard"..."There is limited or no maintenance of the emergency lighting system to meet BS5266-1:2011 Code of practice for the emergency escape lighting of premises"..."Non-compliant gap to the underside of the fire door...Travel of smoke into adjacent compartment..."
"Fire stopping throughout the block appears non-compliant to manufacturer standards with unsealed fire board, unsealed voids, use of PU foam, unprotected collars and excessive mastic often visible"..."Old electrical riser cupboard has not been adequately protected from fire. The vertical seals are filled with fire foam. Voids into other compartments have not been sealed"..."Combustible materials have been left in the risers"...
"There is no evidence that the fire alarm system is being tested in accordance with the requirements of BS5839-1:2013"..."There is no evidence to confirm the emergency lighting system is being tested to meet BS5266 emergency lighting fire safety standard/Faulty luminaires unable to provide illumination in the event of an emergency causing confusion, delayed evacuation and possible entrapment..."
In 2018, a year after Grenfell, there were still 'significant findings' of faults, with the ranking still Risk To Life: Moderate...Risk To Property: Substantial...
"...evacuation of persons identified as requiring assistance is not clear...current guidance suggests that in the event of a confirmed fire there should be sufficient trained staff on-site to facilitate the evacuation of vulnerable people"... "the weekly fire alarm test sheets were observed to indicate ongoing faults with the automatic opening vents (AOV) at the head of each escape staircase.
"The faults have been recorded consistently for a number of weeks with no record of resolution. The AOVs in question were observed and the power/operating cables were observed to be hanging loose with damage to the insulation on the cables. In the event of a fire and smoke spreading to the escape stairs the smoke may not be ventilated making the escape route untenable before all persons can safely leave the building..."
"Flat entrance doors had damaged or defective self closing devices"... "A sample of areas were observed and found not to be fire stopped or (PU) expanding pink foam
appears to have been inappropriately used to seal some of the gaps around services"... "The details of any fire stopping to the cavity wall or to the rainscreen cladding system were not confirmed by our consultant around the vent pipes..."
This latter 'significant finding' re the absence of a barrier between the plastic extract vent and the cladding and insulation, would risk flames spreading out to the cladding and insulation in the event of a serious kitchen fire.
The risk assessment concludes "when the significant findings and recommendations identified within this Fire Risk Assessment are addressed the risk to life will
be reduced to tolerable..." Is ever a 'risk to life' 'tolerable'?
Meanwhile, the fire risk assessment for Salix Court within the complex of eight blocks, given to residents by Pendleton Together itself, also shows Risk To Life: Moderate... Risk To Property: Substantial...
Pendleton Together states: "In Salix Court it is considered that the risk of a fire occurring is unlikely and the likely consequences of harm from fire (should one occur) are moderate.
"There are a number of findings including measures needed to contain an outbreak of fire and the overall risk to life is considered moderate. However, when the significant findings and recommendations identified within this Fire Risk Assessment are addressed the risk to life will be reduced."
Have these been addressed? No-one knows as the latest fire risk assessments for 2019 have not been released as yet. Meanwhile, almost two and a half years after Grenfell, the cladding on outer walls of the blocks still remains. And there's a wall of silence around Salford City Council's bid to take the contractors to court...
See also previous Salford Star articles:
Disabled Man Left In Pendleton Block During Fire click here
Salford City Council Wins Grenfell Urgency Award click here
Over £2million Spent On Fire Marshals At Pendleton Blocks click here
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