I live on the top floor of a 1960s tower block in Newcastle. Following reports that concerns and demands of those residents in Grenfell Tower were ignored by their council, I am hoping to highlight our concerns and the need for fire safety upgrades to Your Homes Newcastle tower blocks, before it is too late.

The Grenfell Tower disaster last week (14th June 2017), has highlighted serious concern over fire safety in high rise buildings. Questions being asked include why was fireproof cladding not provided, why did fire alarms not work and why was there no sprinklers installed.

Sadly, there have been other instances where if installed, sprinklers could have saved lives, for example;

• 2009. Lakanal House in London, 6 fatalities.
• 2010. Shirley Towers in Southampton, 2 fatalities (firemen).

In 2007 regulations introduced in England stated that any high rise building over 30 meters must have sprinklers fitted. However, this was not applied retroactively and today there are still more than 3800 residential housing blocks in the UK that are not fitted with sprinklers (BAFSA). Grenfell Tower, like council buildings across the country, was built in 1974 and therefore without sprinklers.

Your Homes Newcastles fire procedure advice is, "If in doubt, get out" and if you can't, stay inside your flat. In order to make corridors, landings and stairways accesible for escape and rescue, fires and smoke must be contained to the flat of origin and sprinklers are one of the most effective ways to prevent fire spreading in high rise buildings. In buildings fully protected by sprinklers, 99% of fires were controlled by the sprinklers alone, BAFSA. 

We, tenants of Your Homes Newcastle tower blocks, ask for your support in petition to Tina Drury, managing director of YHN, make it a requirement that ALL Newcastle council tower blocks (both new and existing), are fitted with SPRINKLERS and adequate fire safety measures in ALL buildings, including;

• Fire doors which comply with regulations,
• Priority housing outside of high rise buildings for families with young children, the eldery and disabled,
• Emergency lighting.

It is time to put lives and safety of residents before profit.