Call to retro-fit sprinklers to flats
A Lancashire County Councillor will call this week for the Government to pass a new law demanding sprinklers be fitted in all existing high rise residential buildings.
County Coun Frank De Molfetta says the legislation should be named the Grenfell Act in memory of those who died in the recent London tower block inferno.
In an emergency motion for Thursday’s meeting of the full council he notes sprinklers are the most effective way to ensure fires are suppressed or even extinguished before the fire service arrives.
The motion continues: “Within the Lancashire area there are many high-rise domestic buildings either under local authority control or via housing providers. We therefore recommend that the Government legislate for the retro-fitting of sprinklers into residential high-rise buildings.
“This Council calls on the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, Nick Hurd MP, to put these
proposals to the House at his earliest convenience. We also ask that when this is passed (as it must be) that this act is call the Grenfell Act in memory of the many lives lost in this disaster.”
The motion adds evidence shows sprinkler systems are highly reliable, operating on 94% of occasions: “They save lives and reduce injuries, protect firefighters who attend incidents and reduce the amount of damage to both property and the environment.”