A resident living inside one of Bristol City Council’s flammable building blocks claims a fire broke out over the weekend and not even the emergency services knew about it. Kelly Davis, who has lived in Holroyd House in the Windmill Hill area of Bristol for the last 20 years, said she was shocked when a “terrified” neighbour pounded on her apartment door on Friday (November 18) alerting her to the remnants of a fire on the 6th-floor stairwell
Miss Davis said she was shocked when she saw the blackened ceiling and burned-out window frame with what appeared to be melted particles dripping onto the landing floor. The 44-year-old said when she arrived home at around 2pm that day she smelled a foul chemical scent but mistook it for someone decorating inside the building. But what amazed her the most, was the lack of awareness that there was a blaze at all. She claims the neighbour had been home all day and did not hear a fire alarm or the sound of panic.
Still stunned by the sight and smell Miss Davis immediately took photographs and shared them with a local Facebook group to find out if anyone else living at Holroyd House was aware and was dumbfounded to learn that “nobody knew”. “When something happens here everybody knows because you can hear the sirens but nobody knows anything. It's really bizarre,” she added.
READ MORE: Bristol tower blocks: More than half have flammable polystyrene cladding
Miss Davis said Holroyd House was assigned 24-7 fire warden as the building is one of 38 blocks in Bristol deemed to have flammable polystyrene cladding. “If there’s a fire, the staircase is our only escape route so we’d have no way of getting out of the building.”
Due to the late hours of the night, Miss Davis was unable to inform Bristol City Council but claimed to have spoken to an evening fire marshall who said the incident happened around 12.40 pm (November 18) and was “put out quickly”. She was also told that the day shift fire Marshall had reported it but there was no confirmation the emergency services were called.
Bristol City Council said: “Evidence of a small fire was discovered by an officer at Holroyd House whilst on patrol on Friday. The fire had been extinguished before the officer arrived, and, after checking the area was secure and there was no further risk, reported the details to the Area Manager as per the appropriate process.
Miss Davis describes the scene as if someone had “deliberately” ignited the flames and continues to question why the residents were not immediately notified. “There are people actually living in this block that didn't know anything until I posted the pictures online. They knew nothing. Nobody knocked on our doors to say there was a fire and no communal fire alarms went off. That could have potentially been life-threatening. I live on the sixth floor and because of the location of my kitchen and bedroom, my flat could have gone right up in flames. And anyone living above me would not have been able to get out of this building,” she said.
She is not aware that the incident has been reported or investigated by the police or fire services but claims to have spotted council caretakers clearing up the scene around 8 am Monday morning (November 21). “Holroyd house is one of the buildings that have dangerous cladding, and we should have 24/7 fire wardens but the council's only concern was to clean all the smoke damage. Something is not right about this - something does not add up, she added.
A spokesperson from Bristol City Council said: "After further enquiries undertaken with residents at the block, a report has been made to the police and we will do all we can to support any enquiries into this incident. Inspections have been carried out by council housing officers and reports confirm the damage to the stairwell is minor and will be repaired shortly."
A spokesperson from Avon Fire & Rescue Service said: “We were not called to an incident at Holroyd House on Friday 18 November. We encourage all those living and working in our area to always call 999 if there is a fire, and never attempt to tackle the fire yourself.”
READ MORE:
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