Fire safety advice

We take fire safety very seriously, as you'd expect.  We carry out regular fire assessments on our buildings, which take into account the specific features of a building, like its height, and the people who live there.

Coming soon: you will be able to view the Fire Rise Assessment for your home here (link to follow).

Fire safety information

We provide all new tenants with fire safety advice information and provide updates through our Housing Connect magazine. We provide all relevant fire safety information to all tenants and leaseholders on a yearly basis.

The fire strategy for the building is located in the communal area near the front entrance door which will be either stay put or evacuation.

Our general Fire & Fire Door Safety leaflet [pdf document] contains useful advice on staying fire safe at home.

If you live in a sheltered or extra care scheme we have a specific Fire Safety Policy for Sheltered and Extra Care Accommodation [pdf document] with separate guidance. Your Scheme Manager will also provide you with face to face advice and hold regular face to face meetings around fire safety.

Contact us

If you have any concerns about fire safety, don't hesitate to contact us:

• Phone 01325 405333
• Email [email protected]

If it's an emergency call 999 for immediate help.

Smoke alarms

The most important step you can take to keep yourself and your loved ones safe is to ensure your home has working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm can give you the vital time you need to get out, stay out and call 999.

We provide smoke alarms to all our homes and test them each year. We recommend that you test your alarm regularly yourself, and make sure everyone in your home knows the escape routes if there is a fire. A good time to test them yourself is at the same time as when you change your clocks twice a year.

Charging of E-bikes and E-scooters

E-bikes and E-scooters use rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries.  When used correctly these are not dangerous, but it is important to be aware of fire safety advice relating to these vehicles and particularly the charging of them.

Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service have useful fire safety advice on their website [external link].

Any fire can get out of control alarmingly quickly as this video from the London Fire Brigade demonstrates.

 

Please also see our safety advice for electric mobility vehicles [internal link].

Communal areas

Where properties have a communal area, like a hall or stairs in a block of flats, we carry out regular fire risk assessment. We will also carry out yearly fire door inspections of your flat entrance door on the communal stairwell.

In our Sheltered and Extra Care Schemes we test the fire alarms each week, every month we test emergency lighting and venting. 

You are responsible for keeping buildings safe. Don't store or use dangerous, flammable or explosive liquids, gases or tools in your home or in any communal areas or obstruct any communal area with personal belongings or rubbish. You must comply with health and safety instructions and take all reasonable precautions to prevent fire, flood or other damage to your home.