To receive a presentation on fire safety from Maidenhead Fire Brigade.

Robin Jordan, Station Manager at Whitewatch at Maidenhead Fire Station, explained that he had been asked to give a brief explanation of the role in the fire station. Robin Jordan would give examples of what they did in the community. One of the strategic commitments was to provide education and advice on how they prevented fires and other emergencies. Community groups within the town were visited and a safe and well visit would be conducted. This affected everyone and was based around good housekeeping and to ensure that all had a smoke detector and carried out routine tasks and not take them for granted. So, the first thing checked was that there was a working smoke alarm and that it was in the correct position. Advice would be given on the main areas of the house, these included:

Kitchen

·       Putting shopping on a hob;

·       Putting things in the microwave that shouldn’t be put in there;

·       Toasters;

·       Fat on trays;

·       Keeping loose clothing out of the way;

·       Tie hair up;

·       Advice- if you don’t like the look of a fire, switch off power source and shut the door and contact Fire Service.

·       Regularly service boilers to prevent carbon monoxide build up;

·       To have a carbon monoxide detector in the house, near to a boiler;

Living Room

·       Keep chimneys clean and have a carbon monoxide detector in living room;

·       Electrical sockets, try to use long extension cables and wires unwind properly;

·       Candles, distinguish when leaving the room and have fire guards around fire places.

Bedroom

·       Unravel electric blanket wires and switch off before sleeping.

The location of the smoke detectors was then checked, ideally these should be in the hallways at the bottom and top of stairs. The routine that should be followed before bedtime, should be turn off telly and shut the door after them. It’s good to know where the keys are. All doors should be shut as this would give thirty minute of fire protection. It was good to have a phone and a torch upstairs and clear clutter from the main exit routes.

Councillor Singh asked if the fire service still carried out fire risk assessments and was advised the fire risk assessments were carried out for businesses by a specific team. Councillor Singh asked if the fire service were still offering the apprentice scheme in Maidenhead and was informed that the first batch of students were currently at training school. This was a new recruitment drive that was government driven and new to the fire service. Councillor Singh continued and asked about how high could the fires be tackled by the Maidenhead team, especially with the buildings getting taller in the town centre. Robin Jordan informed the Forum that they had an aerial ladder platform that reached 40 metres but not specifically in Maidenhead, it was in the county. The ladders on the appliances reached 13.5 meters. In recent times, the procedures had been changed to that ensure that a level two officer of the control team would attend any high-rise building. There was also a built environment team who were working constantly within the centre of the county. They would be working on ensuring that an information plate be put in a simple form outside the high-rise buildings to explain the main points about the building to the officer on arrival in an incident. This would include entry’s, exits, where the high rise were, where the dry riser inlets were and where the lifts were located. All of these actions had come out of the Grenfell Tower incident.

Councillor Singh asked with Maidenhead increasing its number of flats and therefore population, was there any thoughts of moving the station premises to a larger premise or having more appliances. Robin Jordan informed the Forum that there were plans to develop the station, adapt the station in case of a larger incident. The station currently consisted of a satellite system that covered Windsor and there were many special appliances as the river was also covered by Maidenhead Station.

Councillor Coppinger asked a question from the chat, as follows, as a fire authority, would Robin Jordan and his team have a say on how tall a building should be. Robin Jordan commented that they did not have a say, it was determined by planning.

The Chairman thanked Robin Jordan for taking the time out to attend and for all their hard work in protecting the borough and for a very useful presentation.