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Resident duties around fire safety

Safety features you will find in your home and block

Smoke and heat detection and warning

Mains powered automatic smoke detectors with battery back-up are installed in your home. We tests these annually.

Some properties have a heat detector in the kitchen. This type of detector is less likely to cause ‘false alarms’ from frying, grilling, or toasting food. Detectors must be linked. If one detector goes off, the alarm will sound at all alarm locations.

Remember to test your alarm on a weekly basis. 

Flat front entrance door

Your flat entrance door is a fire door. It is self-closing and has strips and seals that prevent smoke and flames from entering the staircase if your flat is on fire or your flat if the fire is in the other side. If you have to leave your flat because of a fire, make sure the door latches shut behind you.

Do not make alterations to your door such as fitting extra locks and cat flaps, as this will compromise your safety.

Internal doors

Some properties may have internal doors with fire resistance, typically the kitchen door. These doors have a solid core and feature smoke seals on their edges. These seals expand in a fire, sealing the door against the frame. When you leave home for a while or go to bed, ensure these doors are latched closed.

It is important that you do not make alterations to the door such as additional locks and cat flaps, as this will compromise your safety.

Emergency lighting

Where required, emergency lights are provided in staircases and corridors. If the electricity fails, they will stay lit and guide you along the escape route and out of the building.

Some will not normally be lit but will have a small green or red light that indicates they are working. If the electricity fails, they will light up. The other type remains lit and are on a protected circuit so even if the electricity fails, they will remain lit.

The council tests these lights regularly. Do not cover these lights.

Dry risers

A Dry Riser is used by the Fire Brigade to get water to the upper floors. On the ground floor there is a Dry Riser Inlet that the Fire Brigade connect their hoses to. Water is pumped up the vertical pipe to each floor where the fire-fighters can connect their hose to the outlet.

Dry risers inlets must have fire engine access within 18 metres, so this area must be always kept clear.

We test dry risers regularly. If residents see any damage, please report this to the council.

Protected escape routes

The protected escape routes are there if you need to leave the building or are advised to do so by the London Fire Brigade. For more information on ‘stay put’ and when to leave your flat. The corridors and staircases are protected areas and designed to allow for residents from all parts of the building to reach the outside without passing through a higher fire risk area.

These routes are protected by materials that will provide a minimum of 60 minutes protection from fire and smoke. Generally, the only break is doors, but these also protect the route as they are fire doors.

These protected routes must be kept clear of obstructions and combustible materials so that residents evacuating can do so easily. It would be extremely hazardous if any of these items caught fire in the protected escape route making it unusable.

Fire doors

A fire door consists of a door and frame set that, when closed, is intended to resist the passage of fire and smoke.

In the closed position, they protect the escape route which enables residents to evacuate.  You will find fire doors on flat entrance doors, across corridors on the escape route and on electrical cupboards and the bin chutes. 

Fire doors are there to protect your means of escape and should never be wedged/propped open. Fire doors should not be locked or fastened in such a way that means a key is needed to make an escape.

Fire hydrants

Fire hydrants are found in the ground near your block. They are sometimes painted yellow but are marked with ‘FH’ or ‘Fire Hydrant’. Near to the hydrant on the wall there is a yellow ‘H’ plate. The plate indicates the size of the pipe and the distance the hydrant is away from the plate. In the example opposite, the hydrant has a 250mm pipe and is 1 metre away from the H plate.

They are used by the Fire Brigade to provide a supply of water from the mains to the dry riser inlet.

Obstructing a hydrant is an offence and can carry a fine if convicted. Please remember to park considerately and away from any hydrants.

If a hydrant is leaking or faulty, you should tell the local water company (the owners). Any other defects or queries can be reported to the London Fire Brigade.

Fire Brigade's lift control

If a fire breaks out in your block and the Fire Brigade are called it is likely that the electricity to the block will be switched off when they arrive. This means that the lift will not be operational. It is imperative that residents do not use the lift when they are aware of a fire as they may become trapped in the lift. The Fire Brigade can control the lift for their own fire-fighting purposes by using the control switch adjacent to the lift doors.

Remember – never use the lift if there is a fire.

What to do if you discover a fire

3 steps if you discover a fire (advice from the London Fire Brigade)

  • Step 1. Raise the alarm by shouting “fire, fire”.
    Attempt to alert others by shouting, but do not put yourself in danger by trying to make physical contact with neighbours.

  • Step 2. If you are not in your own or someone else’s home, evacuate the building immediately if it is safe to do so.
    Try to leave the building by the most direct route that does not expose you to smoke or flames.

  • Step 3. Telephone the Fire Brigade on 999.


Use the stairs to leave the building. Close the fire doors including in your flat if you evacuate. Call 999, but only when you are safely our of the building.

Do not use the lifts if you are aware of a fire. Do not smoke in common areas or escape routes.

What if a fire breaks out in my home?

If the fire is behind a closed door do not try to open the door or tackle the fire. Tell everyone in your home to leave immediately. Leave by the nearest exit door from your home (that leads to a route out of the building) closing it shut behind you. Do not stay behind to put the fire out. Do not use the lift. Call the fire service – dial 999.

What if a fire breaks out in another part of my block?

Stay put until the fire service says it is safe to leave. You should only leave immediately if smoke or heat affects your home or if you are told to by the fire service. if you leave, close the front door.

What if I have to evacuate the building?

Do not use the lifts as they are not fireproof, and you may get trapped in the lift if the fire causes a power failure. Do not stop to collect personal belongings as this will delay your evacuation and carrying belongings may hinder your own and other peoples’ escape. Do not re-enter the building until authorised to do so.

Fire safety checklist 

  • When you go to bed, make sure that you have closed all internal doors.
  • Take care in the kitchen – most fires start here, so never leave your cooking unattended and take extra care with hot oil.
  • Preferably do not use candles, but if you do, never leave lit candles unattended.
  • Preferably do not smoke but if you do, make sure cigarettes are stubbed out and disposed of carefully and never smoke in bed.
  • Do not smoke in the communal areas or escape routes.
  • Do not use Calor gas, paraffin heaters and avoid electric bar fires wherever possible. Instead use plug-in radiators with safety electric plugs.
  • Do not block or store items in corridors or hallways inside your home or in the communal areas you may need to use these areas when it is dark or there is smoke.
  • Do not overload electrical sockets, do not cover heating appliances, or leave lit candles or heaters close to curtains or furniture.
  • Ensure electrical equipment is regularly inspected and serviced. 

Escape routes

  • Familiarise yourself with the escape routes from your home and the communal areas (including any alternative escape routes).
  • Do not block the escape routes. These must be always kept clear.
  • Do not fit metal gates or grilles over doors and escape windows as these may trap you inside the flat, may hinder others escape if left open and will make it difficult for the London Fire Brigade to rescue you in an emergency.

Smoke alarms

  • Make sure there is a smoke alarm is fitted within the hallway opening onto the escape route.
  • If you are a council tenant there should already be a smoke alarm in your flat which you should test weekly. If not, please contact the council's Housing Service Centre on 020 7364 5015.
  • If you are a leaseholder, fit smoke alarms on each floor and test them once a week.
  • The Fire Brigade provides FREE home fire safety checks and will give you a free smoke alarm. You can book an appointment online at london-fire.gov.uk or phone them on 0800 028 44 28.