London Fire Brigade

On 17th August, twenty fire engines and around 125 firefighters were deployed to a fire at the historic Somerset House. Our Control Officers took over 30 calls to the fire, with the first call at 1159 and the fire under control by 1851. Part of the third floor and the roof of the west wing of the building were damaged by fire. The age and design of the building proved a challenge for crews as they initially responded. Four of our aerial ladders, including a 64 metre turntable ladder, were deployed to support firefighters as they carried out a complex and technical response. This included creating fire breaks in the roof to limit the spread of flames. Around 150 staff and visitors left Somerset House before we arrived and thankfully, there were no reports of any injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation. A huge well done to our crews from Soho, Dowgate, Islington and surrounding fire stations, and our blue light partners, for their hard work in the very warm weather, and to our Assistant Commissioner Keeley Foster for taking media interviews to keep the public updated.

On Saturday 21st September, we will be opening the doors to our Art Deco Memorial Hall as part of Open House 2024! This hidden gem is in our Grade II-listed former headquarters on Albert Embankment and features memorials to firefighters lost in the course of duty protecting Londoners. Sculptor Gilbert Bayes created two memorials as a centrepiece for the building, featuring scenes in the history of London’s fire service. These detailed sculptures show fire fighting in the years after the Great Fire of London, and a scene contemporary with the building which opened in 1937. A later memorial commemorates those lost in the Second World War when Lambeth Fire Station was at the heart of efforts to protect London in The Blitz. We’ll have information about the history of the building and the first Black firefighters in London Fire Brigade. Join us at the Open House on Saturday 21st September 11am-4pm and then, we’re doing it all again on Saturday 28th September 12noon-4pm for Lambeth Heritage Festival. Both events are free, no need to book. Find more information here: https://orlo.uk/oSIa6

In the early hours of Monday morning, 40 fire engines and around 225 firefighters were called to tackle a fire at a block of flats in Dagenham, where the whole of the building, surrounding scaffolding and roof were affected by fire. More than 80 people were evacuated and firefighters also rescued 20 people, including using our new fire escape hoods, which can provide 15 minutes of clean, filtered air in smoke-filled environments. Four people were treated on scene by London Ambulance Service crews, with two being taken to hospital for smoke inhalation. To allow us to focus our resources on the incident, we declared a major incident, which was later stood down once the fire was under control. Our Control Officers took 16 calls to the fire, giving fire survival guidance to a number of people using our Fire Survival Guidance App to exchange information between Control and the incident ground. Our drones, 64-metre and 32-metre turntable ladders were also used at the scene to provide incident commanders with a vantage point to assess, and as water towers to deliver water on to the fire from above. A rest centre was set up at Becontree Heath Leisure Centre, where our officers and members of our dedicated community support team were stationed to support residents alongside our partners. On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner attended the scene to thank firefighters and talk to residents, and our London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe spoke with the media to provide an update and also thank our crews who operated in dangerous conditions to rescue people and bring the incident under control despite being faced with a significant building failure. Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected and we will remain present in the local community throughout the coming days to provide support where needed. We want to give a huge well done to our crews, Control Officers, Fire Safety Officers and support staff, as well as our blue light colleagues, who worked incredibly hard to resolve the incident and to ensure everyone was safe.

This bank holiday, we had the pleasure of hosting a breakfast and exhibition on the history of Windrush and Notting Hill Carnival at North Kensington Fire Station with our partners Masology Making Carnival Mas Band, The Windrush Generation Legacy Association Charity, Masanova, Croydon Supplementary Education Project and Transport for London. Our staff then joined the Carnival parade, following the Masology float around the 2.4 mile Notting Hill Carnival route. North Kensington Fire Station also opened up their doors to the public for a family friendly open day, offering a space for revellers to bring children, engage with our crews and take a look around our fire engines, with our resident DJs entertaining visitors with a mixture of soca, reggae and calypso music. A huge thank you to our crews and blue light colleagues for their hard work over the two days, our partners and volunteers for working together to organise the exhibition and float, our Inspecting Officers for performing fire safety checks ahead of the event, and all those who attended.

Are you a business group, alarm-receiving company, or the responsible person for a commercial building? If so, we're running a webinar on changes to how we will respond to Automatic Fire Alarms (AFAs). Starting in October, we will stop attending AFAs in most commercial buildings between 7am-8:30pm, unless we receive a call reporting a fire. This includes office blocks, retail and industrial estates during daytime hours. We will continue to respond to AFAs in schools, residential buildings and many other types of buildings at all times. The webinar, at 2pm on the 21st August, will cover how the changes will work, why we are making them, and what this means for your business. You can register on our website here: https://orlo.uk/6Jx05

Yesterday, we hosted a #ChargeSafe event in partnership with Deliveroo at Shoreditch Fire Station, engaging with hundreds of Deliveroo riders on the critical issue of e-bike and e-scooter safety. Our safety messaging reached a vital audience within the gig economy, who regularly use e-bikes as part of their jobs. Over 300 riders came to the event, with many of the riders arriving on e-bikes, including several with converted kits. Our crews engaged with them and gave out our #ChargeSafe and Home Fire Safety Checker leaflets which share the key messaging of how to safely charge and store their e-bikes and e-scooters and how to keep their homes safe, either in English or other widely spoken languages in the Borough. We were also joined by representatives from Hackney and Tower Hamlets Councils, local councillors, the Cycling and Walking Commissioner, representatives from the Home Office and Transport for London, and received brilliant media coverage from the BBC and Islam Channel. Thank you to Shoreditch Green Watch, Deliveroo, Fettle, our stakeholders and other colleagues for their hard work in delivering an event that we hope will help to keep e-bike and e-scooter users safe.

Croydon Fire Station hosted its first ever Special Education Needs (SEN) family open day recently, with 700 children and their families attending. The day was planned by Station Officer Daniel Foster after seeing how his own daughter, who is autistic, struggled to enjoy Open Days at her father’s workplace. Daniel decided to create a bespoke event which was adapted to be accessible to those with autism, as well as other Special Education Needs, and raised funds for Certitude London charitable projects. The event included: - Ramp access to the cab of a fire engine so that those in a wheelchair could look inside. - A hose connected to a hydrant to give children with sensory needs an opportunity to squirt water - rather than from a hose connected to a running fire engine. - A specially adapted zip wire to allow children to either go straight up and look around - or for the more adventurous, to fly down the zip line. - A Breathing Apparatus chamber normally used for training purposes was converted into a ‘sensory’ room with lights and a projection of a fire on the wall for the attendees to locate. - Quiet areas in the fire station yard with lights, wind chimes, fragrant plants, hanging paper flowers, bubbles and a bubbling water feature. The day was such a success that Daniel and his Watch are hoping to make it an annual event. A huge well done to Daniel, Croydon Blue Watch and everyone involved with delivering such a brilliant day.

We're really proud that our Energy Portal, which is helping to reduce energy usage across our estate enabling us to become a more sustainable organisation, has received recognition at a prestigious award ceremony. The Energy Portal won the Building Management Low Carbon Initiative Award at the highly acclaimed Energy Awards held last month. It was also nominated for Energy Efficient Partnership of the Year, for the development of the system with Nordomatic. Thanks to an accessible and interactive implementation of the system across the Brigade’s estate, the Energy Portal allows staff to monitor the amount of energy being consumed across the Brigade’s estate, encouraging them to cut the amount of energy consumed (like a home Smart Meter). Between April 2022 and March 2023, the amount of energy used was cut by 17 per cent, surpassing a target set by the Brigade of 10 per cent. The Energy Portal supports our other sustainable initiatives, such as our first carbon net zero fire station in Walthamstow, which was completed in 2022. By the end of 2024, a further five fire stations are due to be carbon net zero and funding has been secured to decarbonise a further 12 stations by the end of 2026. We're also introducing hydrogenated vegetable oil to help fuel some appliances, such as fire engines. Sometimes known as Renewable Diesel, HVO is created by collecting vegetable fats and oils and putting them through a hydrogenation and isomerisation process which removes impunities. HVO reduces carbon emissions from vehicles by about 90 per cent.

A fantastic inclusive Open Day hosted at Croydon Fire Station last weekend. Well done to all involved 👏