Could IoT Have Helped Avoid Grenfell Catastrophe

Last week, I wrote about the new connected fire detection solutions that are available today. Clearly, plenty of innovation is going on, and we continue to hear about upcoming smart products. Unfortunately, we still witnessed the Grenfell catastrophe that took around 80 lives. The fire at Grenfell Tower shocked us all and made us wonder why even after all the progress we have made in terms of IoT, technology, and regulations, we hear about such large-scale accident.

Too many questions remain unanswered

While investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the incident and the reason, why fire spread so quickly, early reports have highlighted some of the major issue. Media reports suggest that the Grenfell Tower did not have a central fire alarm system– or that it had failed. Furthermore, not all smoke alarms in individual flats worked properly. Most residents claimed that they were alerted about the fire only by people screaming for help or knocking on their door. The building’s new cladding is expected to be a major factor that caused the fire to spread rapidly. The building also had a ‘stay put’ policy, which means in an event of fire, residents should only evacuate if their own flat is on fire, others in the building should stay in their apartment and wait for to be rescued. This policy is usually implemented in high-rise compartmentalized buildings. It assumes that most fires in these buildings can be contained within the flat for at least 60 minutes, before the fire fighters arrives. The policy appears to be the major reason behind high casualty count.

These early reports have raised several questions. Were the detectors in the building properly installed? Were safety inspections conducted regularly? Was the central alarm system properly maintained? Was the new cladding properly tested? Why were so many people unable to leave the building? Why the ‘stay-put’ policy not changed sooner?

Can IoT help?

This accident highlights how we have failed to use the technology to prevent a small fire from turning into such large-scale accident. The accident also makes us wonder, could implementation of advanced IoT detection solutions have helped avoid such tragedy?

While the smart stand-alone detectors, discussed in previous blog post, are more suited for single family homes, even in larger developments, such as the Grenfell Tower, these detectors can be of great help. In case, the central alarm system fails, as it happened in Grenfell Tower, the smart detectors can ensure all residents are alerted.

Many times, small fire incidences escalate to become a major problem, when residents are away. Since smart detectors can send alarm to phones, residents are made aware of the situation early-on. Therefore, even when they are away, residents can get help from neighbors or fire department to check on the situation, and prevent a small fire from turning into catastrophic. Having an early warning even when the residents are away, can be of even more value in case of larger developments as many more lives are at stake. However, since these smart detectors are expensive, it will be a while before these detectors are installed for larger projects.

In larger complexes, central alarm systems are more appropriate. A central alarm system can ensure that an alarm reaches all relevant sections of the building. It is extremely important to test these systems regularly to ensure their reliability in terms of circuit integrity and performance. Various advanced alarm systems are already available, that include automatic testing as well as remote monitoring and control. Such an advanced alarm system at the Grenfell Tower could have helped ensure the reliability of the system. A functional alarm system would have alerted residents and as well as the fire station on time to help save many more lives.

It isn’t clear whether the Grenfell Tower had any mass notification system. A mass notification system, especially one with advanced communication features through text and email, could have helped create quick and effective awareness. Such an advanced notification system could have helped save many lives at the Grenfell Tower, where many residents did not receive the alerts on time.

Last week’s blog also highlighted how IoT and analytics can help bring improvements to emergency planning. With intelligent actionable information, fire fighters, in case of Grenfell tower, could have made quicker, better decision. Analytics could have helped safety officials realize that pace at which fire was spreading was faster than the pace at which it was being controlled. Knowing this, they could have changed the ‘stay-put’ policy sooner, when most of the exits were still open. Sensor data could have helped them find better escape routes. With an advanced mass notification system, custom instructions could have been sent to people stuck in different parts of the building to help them safely and quickly escape the fire.

It is human nature, to contemplate after a mishap, what could have been done differently to avoid the situation. The Grenfell accident has brought attention to several factors that, in all likelihood, ultimately led to this catastrophic event. Hopefully, with the available and upcoming advanced technologies we can avoid these mistakes and prevent such large-scale accident in future.