Ampthill Square fire is under investigation

Published: 26th May, 2011

• HAVING read the report of the fire in Gillfoot, Ampthill Square, I am concerned about the your heading (Residents in block with ‘disconnected fire alarms’ lucky to be alive after serious flat blaze, May 19).  

In this case the incorrect reporting is likely to add to the concerns of residents already traumatised by the fire.

During the regeneration of Ampthill, each flat was completely rewired and smoke detectors were wired into the electrical system to provide maximum safety. These do not depend on residents testing them and replacing batteries and thus are far more reliable.  

The smoke sensors that emit a piercing alarm if smoke is detected are situated in the kitchens of each flat since this is the site of most internal fires. As far as I am aware it is not possible for these alarms to be disabled by residents.

However, the system was designed to cater for raising an alarm by detection of smoke.  At least some residents were very concerned that they were not activated. The design thus provided an audible alarm in the most likely seat of any fire internal to homes. It was not designed to deal with smoke entering the building from outside flats.

In the next few weeks the housing department will check all window seals to ensure that they do not allow smoke ingress and investigate issues of concern that have been raised. Residents are being informed that the fire service will install supplementary smoke detectors free of charge.

What was decommissioned several years ago was a complicated smoke detection system in the communal areas. 

This was done because  residents smoking outside their flat doors constantly set off these highly sensitive alarms.

The Regeneration Steering Group on Ampthill questioned the wisdom of removing the system and particularly following the fire in Oxenholme in 2009 urged that a central fire alarm be installed. 

However, we were told by officers from the fire service that building regulations did not require such a central alarm and, furthermore, it could prove to be a target for vandals activating the system when no emergency existed. 

Following the latest fire we will be pushing for a review and the installation of a system to alert residents to smoke in the communal areas.  

The cause of the Gillfoot fire is not yet known but as soon as the formal investigation report by the fire service is available the contents of this will be made available to all residents.   

The tenants’ and residents’ association will ensure the housing department complies with any recommendations.

Meanwhile we are planning a public meeting which will both inform residents about current plans, pending the fire service report, and allow tenants the opportunity to raise their concerns.  

Prior to this the housing department, working with professionals in the field, is attempting to locate any deficiencies in the system which was given formal approval at the time it was installed.

While I do not want to diminish in any way the trauma suffered by Gillfoot residents, whom I would like to congratulate on their response to the emergency, it is most important that your newspaper does not raise unnecessary fears. By all means hold the council to account if it is deficient, but it is most important that your reporting is accurate and does not make a bad situation worse by fuelling residents’ fears unnecessarily.
Fran Heron 
Chair Ampthill Square TRA and Regeneration Steering Group