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This issue of Fire Risk Management highlights the continuing need for emergency management and business continuity planning in heritage – a sector which is important in terms of its cultural value and its contribution to education, tourism and the economy.
Problems with safeguarding historic properties and other heritage sites have been better addressed in recent years – there are many examples of fire protection systems being sensitively integrated so as not to interfere with the building fabric. However, there is still much to do. A survey carried out as part of a European study found that an average of seven UK heritage buildings are lost or damaged by fire each month – suggesting that 2,000 buildings could be wiped from the heritage landscape by 2026.
It is therefore encouraging that heritage is now a bigger consideration in UK fire service integrated risk management plans. A new guidance note – due to be issued imminently by Communities and Local Government – explains that these plans must now explicitly set out how brigades will contribute to protecting our heritage.
The guidance details that the planning scenario should consider simultaneous firefighting and salvage operations, possibly involving staff and occupiers. It also specifies that emergency response to heritage incidents should take into account the special nature of the building – and that this may include modifying predetermined attendances to specific risks in light of local circumstances.
Elsewhere, the European COST Action 17 study on fire losses in built heritage suggests a broad range of recommendations, some with quite far-reaching implications. For example, it says that, given the fact that fire risk is greater at unoccupied historic sites, local authorities could be given powers to force owners to renovate them. It also suggests that government could consider ploughing funds raised by tourism back into safeguarding the built heritage.
Another issue is that more training is needed for both heritage staff and the fire service, particularly in the area of salvage work and damage limitation. UK moves – such as a training course in emergency planning for heritage owners, guidance and training for fire crews on fire risks and salvage work at historic sites, and a standard template for heritage emergency plans – are therefore keenly awaited.
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