Council’s Fire Works Offer ‘No Protection’

A fire safety expert has slammed Basildon Council members for their improvement works on an estate which has seen ten fires in the past decade.

In a report for the BBC’s regional programme Inside Out, fire safety expert Arnold Tarling said that cladding being installed by the council in the Felmores Estate offers “no known fire protection.”

Click here to view Figure 1.

The Essex estate is mostly timber framed and timber clad, which has resulted in a seemingly large number of fires on the estate. Recently, a fire in July ended with two women having to be rescued from a fire in their flat, which also damaged neighbouring flats. Firefighters said the flat was “100 percent alight” by the time they arrived on the scene. In 2009 one fire destroyed eight properties in the estate.

All of this combined has led to a campaign from residents to improve the fire protection measures in the buildings, something Basildon Council has responded to. It claims the replacement cladding — due to be installed from October — will offer 75 minutes of fire protection and is just part of a wider plan to improve fire-control measures on the estate. Sprinkler systems, improved electrical systems and “regular” checks are also part of the council’s strategy to prevent and control blazes.

But Tarling has said that the proposed replacement cladding amounts to nothing more than a “rain screen,” which will “act as a chimney encouraging the fire to spread upwards.” He continued:

It would have been far better to have removed the cladding and asbestos cement panels, fixed an external quality fire-rated board, insulated with a mineral wool and then rendered on mesh.

Delayed works

In April 2012, councillors were forced to deny that delays to fire safety improvement works had contributed to a blaze that left four houses damaged and two people being treated for smoke inhalation. Following the 2009 blaze which destroyed eight properties, the fire service recommended treating the timber in a fire-resistant coating in order to reduce the spread of fire. But this work, initially scheduled for 2011, was delayed while councillors considered new energy-efficient cladding materials — for which they would be able to received additional funding.

In September 2013 the works to replace the cladding are still yet to begin. This seems like a fairly impressive delay.

During the past few weeks residents have been consulted on their colour choices for the new cladding, with works due to begin next month and be completed by June 2014. Councillor Phil Turner said in a statement:

The homes in Felmores have been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently following July’s fire in Bockingham Green. Before this event it was always the council’s intention to replace the cladding on the homes here and I am pleased to see we are seeing progress.

There is one more piece of negative news to add to the pile, then, Mr. Turner. The BBC programme will be shown tonight in the East region and will be available nationally on BBC iPlayer shortly afterwards.

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