A fire in the home is a terrifying thought no matter where you live, but for those living in high-rise apartment buildings, the fear is often even greater.
Multi-unit residential buildings pose a range of unique fire safety concerns due to the close proximity of neighbours and evacuation procedures that can become confusing in an emergency.
Furthermore, management companies are all too often under so much pressure to deal with other competing factors, that tenant fire safety is not made enough of a priority.
If you live in a flat within a high-rise building knowing the risks associated with fire, and putting precautions in place to mitigate them, really could be the difference between life and death.
The majority of apartment fires in the UK are preventable, starting as a result of human error, so with the right preparation, you can prevent a minor accident from escalating into something much worse.
Here is all the information you need about the common causes of apartment fires, how to prevent them, and what to do if the worst happens.
What causes apartment fires?
Whilst the consequences of an apartment fire can be much worse, the root causes are similar to a fire in any other property.
Apartment fires start most often as a result of carelessness in everyday activity, with cooking fires being the most common cause.
Electrical equipment malfunctions are another major fire risk, as is anything involving a naked flame, such as lit candles and cigarettes.
Best ways to prevent apartment fires
Many fire risks can be minimised significantly through some simple precautions taken by tenants.
Here are some of the best tips for fire safety:
Cooking
- Never leave a stove unattended whilst cooking.
- Turn off all appliances once cooking is complete
- Avoid wearing highly flammable or loose fitting clothing whilst cooking.
- Take particular care when cooking with oil or grease as a fire involving these is particularly difficult to control.
Heating
- Turn off all electric/space heaters before going to bed.
- Leave at least 1m clearance around electric/space heaters
- Fireplaces are extremely rare in apartments but if you do have one keep it clean and well maintained and ensure that any ashes have fully cooled before disposing of them safely.
Smoking
- If you are renting your apartment you may not be allowed to smoke inside, according to your tenant agreement, but if you are take extreme care when doing so.
- Never smoke in bed or near to flammable soft furnishings.
- Keep all matches and lighters well out of reach of children.
- Fully extinguish all cigarettes before disposal.
Electronic Devices
- Make sure to have all electronic devices checked by a qualified electrician on a regular basis.
- Look for the common signs of wearing and faulty electronics, such as burn marks on wall sockets, and frayed wiring.
Fire Safety Measures
The following fire safety measures should be put in place in every single apartment, to reduce the risk of a fire escalating out of control without residents being aware.
Smoke Detectors
Having a fully operational set of interlinked smoke alarms is now a legal requirement, and for good reason.
Ensuring that your smoke detectors are fully operational is an easy way for apartment dwellers to ensure that if a fire does start, they will be alerted as early as possible.
Detectors should be placed outside every single room where people sleep, as well as in the kitchen, the most popular living space, and in hallways.
Test your alarms once a month to ensure they are in good working order.
Fire Extinguishers
Having a small fire extinguisher in the kitchen is a good way to stop minor fires from escalating.
Make sure to keep your extinguishers up to date and in working order.
If the communal areas of your apartment building do not have fire extinguishers or they are not working properly, contact the building management company immediately.
Waking Watch Services
If your apartment building has been identified as having fire safety issues above and beyond the normal risks mentioned above, a waking watch serviced may be required.
Waking watch was introduced in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017, to ensure a simultaneous evacuation in properties found to have the same, or similar, flammable cladding to that which had such a devastating impact at Grenfell.
Waking watch involves highly trained professional fire marshals patrolling your building 24/7, looking for fires and raising the alarm if one is found.
In the event of a fire, they will liaise with the emergency services and oversee the safe evacuation of the entire building.
Waking watch officers are highly effective, but should only be put in place as a temporary measure, due to the cost to tenants, until a common fire alarm system can be installed, or the condemned cladding has been replaced.
Here at V360, we take apartment fire safety as seriously as you do, offering both temporary waking watch officers of the highest standard, and an industry leading V-Fire common alarm system.