Should I stay put or leave if there is a fire in my block of flats?

Purpose-built blocks of flats in the UK are traditionally designed so each flat is a fire-resisting compartment — a fire in one flat is meant to stay in that flat for long enough for the fire service to deal with it, which is why a stay-put policy exists at all. Where that compartmentation cannot be relied on, because of the cladding, the construction or defects found in a survey, the building is run on simultaneous evacuation with a common alarm instead. Both are legitimate; the notice in your entrance says which one applies to you, and everyone in the flat should know before there is a fire.

Safety

What you'll need

• Working smoke alarms inside your own flat
• Knowledge of your building's evacuation policy
• A phone kept where you can grab it
• A front door that closes and latches on its own
• A personal emergency evacuation plan, for anyone who cannot use stairs (optional)

Step by step

1. Read the notice in the communal entrance today.It states whether the block operates stay put or simultaneous evacuation, and it is the single piece of information this whole decision depends on. If there is no notice, ask the landlord or managing agent in writing.
2. If the fire is in your flat — get out, close the door, stay out.Everyone out, close every door behind you including the front door, down the stairs, never the lift. Do not stop for possessions. Ring 999 once you are outside.
3. If the fire is elsewhere and the block is stay put — stay in your flat.Keep the front door closed, ring 999 to report it and tell them your flat number, and wait. The compartmentation is designed to hold, and corridors full of people make it harder for the fire service to work.
4. If the block is simultaneous evacuation — leave as soon as the alarm sounds.Nearest stairs, close doors behind you, no lift, go to the assembly point. Do not wait to see whether it is a false alarm.
5. Override the policy with what you can see.If smoke or heat is entering your flat, or the fire service tells you to leave, you leave, whatever the notice says. The policy assumes the compartmentation is holding; your senses tell you whether it is.
6. Never use the lift.Lifts fail in a fire, they can be called to the fire floor, and the shaft carries smoke. Only firefighting lifts operated by the fire service are used in a fire.
7. Ring 999 from outside, not from inside.The only exception is a stay-put situation where you are staying in your flat, or where you cannot get out. Otherwise get out first and ring from a safe place.
8. If you cannot get out, make the room you are in defensible.Room furthest from the fire, door closed, block the gap at the bottom with bedding or towels, open a window, and ring 999 telling them the block, the flat number and which room you are in. Stay by the window so you can be seen.
9. Make a plan for anyone who cannot use stairs.Anyone with mobility, sensory or cognitive impairment needs a personal emergency evacuation plan agreed with the building's responsible person, and the fire service should know they are there. Do not leave this until the night it matters.
10. Keep your own flat's fire safety in order.Working smoke alarms inside the flat, a front door that self-closes and latches, nothing stored in the communal corridors or stairs, and no charging of e-bikes or e-scooters in the hallway or by the only exit.

Tips

• The front door of a flat is a fire door and it only works closed. A door wedged open, a broken self-closer, or a letterbox or cat flap cut into it undermines the entire stay-put principle for the whole block.
• Nothing should be stored in communal corridors, lobbies or stairwells — prams, bikes, furniture, plants. They are the escape route, and they are also fuel and an obstruction to firefighters in smoke.
• Lithium battery fires from e-bikes and e-scooters are fast, extremely hot and very hard to extinguish. Charging one in a hallway blocks the only way out of most flats, and it is the fire the fire service is most worried about in flats.
• If you have concerns about compartmentation, cladding or a missing fire risk assessment, raise them in writing with the landlord or managing agent, and then with the local fire and rescue service, which enforces the fire safety regulations in communal areas.
• Practise the route in daylight, and count the doors to the stairs, because in smoke you may be doing it by touch.

Common mistakes

• Going out into a smoke-filled corridor to investigate — Smoke incapacitates within a few breaths and disorients immediately. Behind a closed flat door with the fire service on the way is safer than a corridor you cannot see across.
• Using the lift — Lifts lose power, can open at the fire floor, and act as a chimney. People have died in lifts in flat fires. Always the stairs.
• Wedging the flat front door open — It is the fire door that protects the escape route for the whole block. Open, it makes stay put unsafe for every other flat as well as your own.
• Assuming stay put means stay put no matter what — Stay put is conditional on your flat remaining unaffected. Smoke or heat reaching you means the compartmentation has failed and you leave.
• Ringing 999 from inside your flat while escaping — It costs the seconds that matter. Get out first, then ring from outside, unless you are staying put or cannot get out.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask