Fire Evacuation Policy - Find a freedom of information request

1. What is the process for alerting you to when an assessment has taken place and a decision made to change a stay-put strategy to one of simultaneous evacuation? Is there a particular document or form I should ask for (i.e. the assessment itself?) or would it be better to ask for how many of these notifications relating to how many buildings you have received in a given period?

2. What could I ask for to find out how long a simultaneous evacuation policy remains in place? Is there a record that the fire service keeps? Does the competent person have to notify the fire service at intervals? In each case what is it that I should be asking for?

3. Related to this - are you notified if/when they revert to a stay-put policy and what documents would demonstrate this?

4. I know that a simultaneous evacuation policy will be likely to involve a waking watch but is there a document or piece of information I can request to confirm whether that is definitely the case?

5. And finally, are you informed if a building has a waking watch in addition to a stayput policy? Again, what is the documentation that I could request to show this?

1. A ‘Waking Watch’ is a control measure and is implemented when deficiencies within fire safety measures have been identified. As a Fire and Rescue Service, we enforce against the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order, and as such we would look to recommend that if an issue is found a Waking Watch would support mitigation of the identified issue/s.

2. A simultaneous evacuation is control/mitigating measure that would be implemented if deficiencies were identified with fire safety measures. If a simultaneous evacuation is implemented, it would be until identified remedial work has been carried out as identified following the fire safety audit. Timescales for remedy would be given, and as such the control measure would remain in place until satisfaction could be given that fire safety measures had been reinstated to support a stay put policy.

3. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue would need to be satisfied that identified deficiencies have been resolved and conditions supported a stay put policy.

4. No.

5. These details would be confirmed following an unsatisfactory audit and control measures required.