What you can do to help with Fire Safety?

Be community minded in the communal areas

Although it can be tempting to leave items, albeit briefly in the hallways, landings and communal areas, doing this can be hugely dangerous.

To avoid causing risk to yourself and others, here are a few points to remember:

• Please do not leave any object in the communal hallways or other enclosed areas (e.g. rubbish bags, bikes, prams etc.). Such objects impede the escape of a resident in the event of a fire. Smoke and poor visibility in the event of a fire mean that even a small object being left out in these areas could cause someone to trip.
• Please do not obstruct, wedge or leave open any fire doors in the building
• Whilst we appreciate it can be handy to prop a fire door open while you get the shopping in, the doors provide vital protection and stop a fire from spreading quickly throughout the building.
• Please don’t leave anything in the way of these doors or keep them open.
• Please do not leave any flammable materials in the communal areas.
• Most things are flammable when exposed to high temperatures but some materials are more likely to accelerate the spread of a fire than others. Items such as paints, chemical cleaners and man made clothing should never be left in communal areas under any circumstances.

Fire safety in your property

Ensuring that your home is protected against fire is crucial to maintaining the safety of yourself and those around you.

We recommend the following steps to keep your home safe from fire:

• If you are aware of any previous alterations within your property or if you have planned any that may affect fire safety in your property please inform us immediately.
• If any doors in your property have been or are to be replaced at any time, including your main entrance doors, please ensure only 30 minutes (FD30S) fire rated doors with closers are installed (See the attached advice note on fire resistant doors).
• Please consider and plan for the evacuation needs of vulnerable groups within your property, such as – children, pregnant women, the disabled and visually impaired, the elderly, asthmatics etc. (See the attached emergency procedures).
• Please ensure that you install and regularly test smoke detectors and ensure all internal fire doors are kept closed as required and not propped open.
• Please ensure that you are familiar with any fire action notices/evacuation instructions/ signage located within the communal areas of the building
• It is in everybody’s interest to do all we can to reduce the risks to health, possible loss of life and property damage posed by fire. With your continued cooperation and general fire awareness we can keep any potential risk as low as possible.

Your on-going cooperation is appreciated.