General fire safety advice

Fire safety tips and how to stay safe in the event of a fire.

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General fire safety advice

We fully supports the Government’s ‘Fire Kills’ Campaign which aims to educate residents on how to prevent fire in their homes and how to stay safe in the event of a fire. 

Download the fire safety guide (PDF, 770KB)

Fire safety tips

  • Install smoke alarms: if you are a Council tenant, there should already be a smoke alarm in your flat. If not, please report it online using the My Account service or call our contact centre on 020 8726 6101
  • Practice safe cooking: take care in the kitchen – most fires start here, so never leave your cooking unattended and take extra care with hot oil.
  • Be careful with candles: Never leave lit candles unattended.
  • Be careful with cigarettes: Make sure cigarettes are stubbed out and disposed of carefully and never smoke in bed.
  • Don’t overload electrical sockets.
  • Keep matches away from children.
  • Do not store flammable liquids such as petrol in your home, bin store or chutes.
  • Keep internal doors closed: when you go to bed, make sure that you’ve closed all the internal doors. This helps to slow the spread of fire 
  • Practice your escape plan - In a smoky, scary atmosphere, it’s easy to freeze, panic and become disorientated. By planning and practising how you will escape with the whole family, you can be more confident about a safe escape.
     

Let us know if you or someone you know might find it difficult to escape the building without assistance. We can discuss a personal emergency evacuation plan and with your permission, we may share information with the fire brigade that may help keep you safe in the event of an emergency.

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Your fire doors

Fire doors are an important part of the fire safety system in blocks of flats. A fire rated door will stop a fire that started elsewhere from breaking out into the escape routes or your flat for 30 minutes or more. This gives the fire brigade enough time to put out most fires. 

The new Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require the landlord of buildings that are 4 stories or higher to carry out an annual safety inspection of flat front doors in those buildings. The landlord must also carry out a safety inspection of the communal fire doors in these buildings every 3 months.
If you are concerned that your front door has any faults, please call 0208 8726 6101.