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I understand that LFB is already looking at adding 55m reach vehicles or even more as a result of Grenfell Tower. Some might say 10 years late but..........
Added by Richard Aston on 25 October 2018.
Added by Richard Aston on 25 October 2018.
Thanks Richard:
Better late than never!
But even a standard London 32 meter unit might have been helpful at the Grenfell Tower fire, to help prevent external vertical fire extension from the fourth floor - if LFB had dispatched one!
But LFB records shown in press reports revealed than no aerial was initially dispatched along with the four pumps to to this night time occupied high rise fire!
It was only nearly an hour after the first alarm that one finally arrived, much too late to be deployed for this purpose. A second unit was never dispatched.
In other countries, high rise fires are always attended on the first alarm by at least one aerial - and often by two or more - for obvious reasons, including many places which we would consider to be Third World.
In the USA, where I live now, our Chicago FD responds to all high rise fires with four pumps, two aerials, a rescue squad, a snorkel, an ambulance and three officers - around 45 personnel. Other cities like New York respond similarly, with more than twice as many personnel as London did.
Perhaps one reason London did not send an aerial is that they only have 13? Paris, with a similar population, has 63, Berlin - half the population of either city, has 35...
Added by Rob Johnson on 07 November 2018.
Better late than never!
But even a standard London 32 meter unit might have been helpful at the Grenfell Tower fire, to help prevent external vertical fire extension from the fourth floor - if LFB had dispatched one!
But LFB records shown in press reports revealed than no aerial was initially dispatched along with the four pumps to to this night time occupied high rise fire!
It was only nearly an hour after the first alarm that one finally arrived, much too late to be deployed for this purpose. A second unit was never dispatched.
In other countries, high rise fires are always attended on the first alarm by at least one aerial - and often by two or more - for obvious reasons, including many places which we would consider to be Third World.
In the USA, where I live now, our Chicago FD responds to all high rise fires with four pumps, two aerials, a rescue squad, a snorkel, an ambulance and three officers - around 45 personnel. Other cities like New York respond similarly, with more than twice as many personnel as London did.
Perhaps one reason London did not send an aerial is that they only have 13? Paris, with a similar population, has 63, Berlin - half the population of either city, has 35...
Added by Rob Johnson on 07 November 2018.
ithink a lot has to do with budgets the fire service as a whole in the UK being slashed to the point that special get a second priorities fire services keep us safe on a shoestring and it keeps getting worse
Added by Colin on 07 December 2019.
Added by Colin on 07 December 2019.
Colin - during the past ten years after I retired I have kept up with fire services in many of the fifty plus countries I visited on business when I was working.
In general, it seems fire protection has improved almost everywhere, but the UK does stand out as an unfortunate example of the opposite trend.
When I lived in London, the brigade operated 212 pumps and 28 aerials. Now they have 150 and 13 respectively.
Most other countries have between 60% and 95% of their operation firefighters who are unpaid volunteers, but in the UK this is not allowed except in Scotland and at a handful of stations in England and Wales.
If less busy stations in small towns are staffed by volunteers who are unpaid, this means a huge savings in payroll costs, so that larger towns and cities can afford proper staffing and equipment.
Even major cities like New York, Tokyo and Berlin have unpaid volunteers who are first responders in local areas - and back up the full time crews too. Santiago in Chile has 100% unpaid volunteer fire companies, protecting a city of 5.5 million people!
It seems inevitable that the UK will be forced to take this obvious route eventually, or we will get more horror stories like Grenfell and the ridiculous gutting of the Clarendon Hotel in Eastbourne more recently..
Added by Rob Johnson on 20 December 2019.
In general, it seems fire protection has improved almost everywhere, but the UK does stand out as an unfortunate example of the opposite trend.
When I lived in London, the brigade operated 212 pumps and 28 aerials. Now they have 150 and 13 respectively.
Most other countries have between 60% and 95% of their operation firefighters who are unpaid volunteers, but in the UK this is not allowed except in Scotland and at a handful of stations in England and Wales.
If less busy stations in small towns are staffed by volunteers who are unpaid, this means a huge savings in payroll costs, so that larger towns and cities can afford proper staffing and equipment.
Even major cities like New York, Tokyo and Berlin have unpaid volunteers who are first responders in local areas - and back up the full time crews too. Santiago in Chile has 100% unpaid volunteer fire companies, protecting a city of 5.5 million people!
It seems inevitable that the UK will be forced to take this obvious route eventually, or we will get more horror stories like Grenfell and the ridiculous gutting of the Clarendon Hotel in Eastbourne more recently..
Added by Rob Johnson on 20 December 2019.
Mercedes-Benz
Although they are very expensive, they do of course cost much less than insisting on having big structures built to modern safety standards.
Perhaps - in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster - some UK fire brigades with dangerous high rises should start getting realistic and add these to their fleets too.
It is obviously a half measure, but better than ignoring the problem altogether. And these behemoths can be supplied much more quickly than the time it takes to rehabilitate a dangerous high rise building!
Added by Rob Johnson on 16 October 2018.