Fire and council officials to meet residents after fatal Bristol tower block blaze

Residents at Twinnell House say they fear for their safety after Sunday's fire killed one and hospitalised eight

Abdul Jabar Oryakhel was described as a "soft, gentle" man
Author: James DiamondPublished 27th Sep 2022

Officials are trying to reassure residents of a Bristol tower block that it is safe, despite a fire on Sunday killing one and leaving eight in hospital.

The blaze broke out on the 16th floor at Twinnell House in Easton and dozens had to be evacuated, though the vast majority are now back inside.

The man who died, who has not yet been named, fell to his death after climbing out of a window trying to escape the flames.

With many now scared to be there, we're told told representatives from the Avon Fire and Rescue Service and Bristol City Council will meet with them before the end of the week to try and allay those fears.

Yassin Mohamud is a local councillor for Lawrence Hill, representing the Green Party.

"Still the community, they've got this concern," he said.

"But...I was assuring to them actually...and confirming that the fire authority and the council officers, they've given assurances that everything was processed and they followed (the) guidance of (the) health and safety procedures.

"So we're telling them that they don't need to worry (about) anything."

In the immediate aftermath of the fire many residents reported that their alarms did not go off and they only discovered there was a fire either when they smelt smoke or were woken by the emergency services telling them to get out.

However, the Fire Service insists the building met all fire safety regulations and all worked as expected.

For example, we are told fire doors successfully contained the flames within the flat where the fire first started and they would therefore not expect alarms in other flats to go off.

What is more, an official has told us it is common practice for there not to be alarms in communal areas, so residents are not encouraged to evacuate at the wrong time and inadvertently block routes for the emergency services.

You can read more about the reasoning for that on page 28 of this document here.

To explain this and answer residents' questions a meeting will be held later this week.

"That's what Bristol City Council officers confirmed to me this morning," Yassin said.

"It's very important that the residents get more clarity from the authorities so they can feel safe returning to their homes."

Only residents living on the 14th, 15th and part of the 16th floor are yet to return to their flats because of damage caused by the fire and firefighters' response to it.

It is expected that they will be able to return by the end of the week.

"I hope that by the end of Friday or before Friday, they will be back," Yassin said.

Yesterday (September 26) it was confirmed the fire started when the lithium battery of an electric bike, on charge in the foyer of one of the top floor flats, malfunctioned.

It would appear the fire quickly blocked the front door of the flat, meaning those inside could not get out.

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.