Safety inspections on all council tower blocks in wake of fatal fire

All 62 high rise council house blocks in Bristol will be inspected for fire safety in the wake of the Twinnell House tragedy.

The city council is investing up to £1m on the checks, which are required under new regulations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Cabinet members approved the measures, which also include another £1m apiece to refurbish rusting playgrounds that are “no longer safe to use” and to cover the council’s energy price increases at the buildings.

It came as mayor Marvin Rees urged tenants not to leave electrical items on charge overnight and praised the response to the fatal Easton blaze.

Asylum seeker Abdul Jabar Oryakhel, 30, died after falling from a 16th floor window while trying to escape the blaze in a flat early on Sunday, September 25.

Flames broke out when an electric bike charger caught light and three other people in the flat managed to escape, two by clinging outside a window before firefighters pulled them to safety.

Abdul’s wife and seven children in Afghanistan had hoped to follow him to the UK, and Rees told the cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the council was looking into how it could support them.

Abdul Jabar Oryakhe died after falling from a 16th floor window while trying to escape the blaze – photo: Abdul Jabar Oryakhe Facebook

Labour cabinet member for housing Tom Renhard told members £1m from a £3.8m underspend on the 2021/22 housing revenue account (HRA), which is income ring-fenced for the authority’s council homes, would pay for the new fire safety inspections required following the Grenfell disaster in 2017.

He said: “Fire safety is a hugely important area for Bristol City Council and we’ve invested over £2.5m a year in fire safety measures across our council properties.

“We’ve been regularly reviewing how our buildings are operating and that our fire safety measures are up to date, working very closely with Avon Fire & Rescue Service.

“The recent tragic case at Twinnell House is a sobering reminder that incidents can happen, and having fire safety measures in place is really important to protect the whole buildings and the residents in the event of an emergency.

“The measures worked, they kept the fire contained.”

All 62 high rise council house blocks in Bristol will be inspected for fire safety in the wake of the Twinnell House tragedy – photo: Ellie Pipe

Renhard said new regulations required the council to inspect all 62 blocks, comprising 4,400 domestic flats, and that a pilot phase on four assessments was underway.

He said inspection reports and any improvements needed would be shared with residents.

Rees said reiterated that fire safety has always been “a priority” for the council.

He added: “One of the key pieces of advice that the fire service and safety officers were giving is please do not leave electrical items of any sort charging overnight, from phones to scooters to e-bikes, and certainly don’t leave them in bedrooms and hallways.

“If you are in a home, think ahead of time of what your exit routes would be and make sure you keep them as clear as possible.”

A cabinet report said: “Independent assessments have been completed to assess the fire safety measures in place.

“Bristol City Council believes that our high-rise blocks of flats are safe and the previous independent assessments have corroborated this.

“However, new regulations have been produced following the Grenfell Inquiry and we are now required to plan a new inspection programme for the blocks that are over 18 metres.

“A pilot phase of work to complete four assessments is underway, to test the market and identify costs.

“This indicates costs at up to £18,000 per inspection, with a total estimated cost in excess of £800,000.”

Up to £1m will also be spent on some of the 21 playgrounds and multi-use games areas on HRA land next to tower blocks.

Renhard said: “We have identified several well-used HRA play and multi-use games areas that are approaching their end of life, so we want to make sure we are investing to replace these and do that through an approach that will be co-designed with residents.”

The cabinet report said: “These provisions need to be refurbished, or failing that removed, as they are no longer safe for use.”

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol

Read next:

• Twinnell House: Man dead and eight in hospital after fire at tower block
• Homemade electric bicycle believed to be cause of fatal flat fire
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