Local MP Maria Miller has called on Barretts once more to immediately start re medication works on Crown Heights.
Maria said, "This recent fire incident was handled quickly, safely and professionally by Hampshire Fire and Rescue but Barretts' unacceptable delays in rectifying fire safety problems means that residents are rightly concerned every time a fire alarm is triggered.
" Because Barretts has not started the building works at Crown Heights I have once again asked the Government to impose penalties on Barretts for dragging their feet. Residents deserve better. Basingstoke Council should also be looking at legal measures they can take to stop Barretts building any more houses in Basingstoke until they can demonstrate the problems at Crown Heights have been resolved. It was built less than 20 years ago and house builders must be held responsible for defects in their work. "
Following the incidantat, Maria wrote to the Fire and Rescue Service to ask for a fire report. They responded with the following:
Dear Dame Maria,
Thank you for reaching out to me regarding the recent incident in your constituency.
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) received a call at 17:40 hours to Crown Heights in Basingstoke on the 5th April 2024.
This incident was located on an external balcony on the 4th floor of the building and the caller was alerted by the activation of a smoke detector. HIWFRS continue to work with all responsible persons for buildings with high-risk cladding and were therefore able to identify this risk at the time of call, instigating well practised control measures ranging from the deployment of additional appliances and officers to ensuring attending teams were informed of the additional risk and had accessed the building information on route.
The initial teams applied pre-arranged tactical options including the swift evacuation of the fire floor, rapid attack on the fire and additional cutting away of the external cladding to ensure that there was no unseen fire spread. The fire was contained to the balcony and was caused by discarded smoking materials. It was confirmed as extinguished at 18:03 with teams remaining on scene to carry out community safety activity and community reassurance.
HIWFRS Protection teams will continue to work closely with Responsible persons of clad buildings to ensure the continued safety of residents and that we have appropriate measures in place to prevent and respond to incident in these buildings.
Yours sincerely
Neil Odin
QFSM
Chief Fire Officer Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service
