Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

An analysis has been made of fires which occurred in blocks of flats of three of more storeys in London during 1962. Fire incidence in the high flats was significantly greater than that in dwellings generally in the UK, but if fires due to hot ashes in rubbish chutes are ignored then fire incidence is significantly less than that for all dwellings. The largest single cause of fire was the disposal of hot waste material down the dust chutes of the flats. There was no evidence of serious problems at fires in tall flats where casualties, means of rescue or escape and means of fire fighting were concerned.