Evacuation Research Trials - Volunteer Invitation

Invitation from London Fire Brigade

Following on from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report, the Home Office and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) are undertaking research on how the fire and rescue services carry out evacuations of high-rise residential buildings. This is linked to recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) was appointed to deliver the project, and live testing is taking place here in London this May, supported by the London Fire Brigade. The title of the overall research is SAFE – Operational Strategies Aiming at Effective Fire Evacuation in HRRB’s.

The live exercises will help the Fire and Rescue Service make key choices about how best to evacuate high rise buildings. Using cutting-edge technology the exercises will provide data to support computer modelling. Every minute counts in an emergency, and this modelling will help commanders in real incidents in the future make the best operational decisions.

The dates for the research exercise are the 3rd to 6th May 2022.

Brent Council have kindly provided an excellent venue for the exercise called Hereford House. This is an empty 17 storey high-rise residential building.

The Salvation Army have kindly agreed to supply refreshments all day during the research to volunteer residents.

This is where we need your help. For the experimental tests to be successful we will need approximately 250 volunteers per day to act as residents over the 4 days to take part in the research. Can I ask you to spread the word widely as we need as many volunteers as you can provide. This is a huge opportunity for housing teams, emergency planners & Local Authority Liaison Officers, and other agencies to see exactly what an evacuation looks and feels like, and to contribute to this important research. There will be fire crews facilitating the various evacuations to simulate a real evacuation. This research will have a huge impact nationally with the support of London Local Authorities and other resilience partners.

Below is the link directly to our calendar where people can register their attendance, it is optional to volunteer for a day at a time.

Click here to register

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What time is the exercise? Please arrive in time for a 10.30 safety briefing. The finish

   time is flexible due to the nature of the exercise but will be approximately 16.00.

2. What are the travel arrangements? Volunteers will need to make their own travel arrangements to and from the exercise. The nearest Underground station is Kilburn Park (5 min walk). The nearest Overground station is Kilburn High Road (8 min walk).

Version 1.0 (01 April 2022)

1. Refreshments. Refreshments (tea/coffee/cold drinks) and snacks will be provided during the day. Please bring a packed lunch / other food you may require.

2. Who can take part? There are no restrictions on who can take part. Please feel free to pass on the invitation to colleagues, family and friends, but please do not advertise the event publicly or pass on my contact details to anyone outside of the London Resilience Partnership. There is no requirement for volunteers to have prior emergency services or resilience experience.

   Children of any age can participate provided they are accompanied by an adult. If you intend to bring a child, please include a note and their age when you book online (include this in the section ‘Anything else you would like to say’).

3. Professional observers / other exercise participation. There are no opportunities for observers or to participate in emergency response coordination arrangements at these exercises. Anyone wishing to observe would need to do so by volunteering as an resident/evacuee.

4. Is registration required? Yes. It will not be possible to participate without registering in advance via the link above. Anyone who turns up on the day without registering will not be able to participate.