London heritage sites remain at risk from fire 'disaster', City Hall warned

Due to their age, historic buildings generally do not meet modern fire safety regulations, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter

Charles Harris speaking at the London Assembly

London Fire Brigade (LFB) does not have enough resources to adequately assess and protect the capital’s heritage sites from future blazes, City Hall has been warned.

In 2025, there were 823 fire incidents either in or within 15 metres of a heritage site, while in recent years, the capital has seen fires at Battersea Arts Centre in 2015, at Grade 2*-listed St Mark’s Church in St John’s Wood in 2023, and Somerset House in 2024.

Due to being designed decades or centuries ago, heritage and historic buildings generally do not meet the requirements of current fire safety regulations.

Current guidance from LFB and fire heritage experts advises that protecting people from fire while preserving a building’s historic character requires “a balanced approach, taking account of both fire safety and heritage conservation”.

Professor José Torero from University College London, who is a fire safety engineer, suggested LFB was fighting a futile battle to assess every heritage building across the capital.

“It is not possible that they can provide this service with the resources that they have,” he told the London Assembly’s fire committee.

“They are trying the best they can – but the reality is also that the level of complexity and uniqueness of these buildings, it is most likely going to escape their level of expertise.

“You are talking about buildings, you know, like the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Abbey that require, you know, the highest level of expertise.

“Pretending that a small group within the LFB, with the modest capacity they have to elevate their training, can handle a problem of that nature, is actually like trying to cover the sun with your hands.”

Charles Harris, a fire adviser for Historic England, suggested that LFB’s limited resources means they are, naturally, looking at buildings which would present a risk to life if caught on fire, such as care homes and hospitals.

He said: “For landmark heritage builds, it’s going to be a longer period before you get an order.”

Prof Torero also warned that “not much has changed” in London since the Notre-Dame cathedral fire in Paris, despite the ominous warning that incident presented.

“Even the way in which the investigation was handled for the Notre-Dame fire was very cloaked,” he said.

“That there was no appetite to have a real open and public understanding of what the problems were and so I think very little was learned about it, and I don’t see that there’s been any significant changes happening after afterwards.”

Most of the time, he said, heritage buildings are treated “just like conventional buildings”, with decisions made without considering how to refurb and retrofit the building safely.

He added: “Generally, we don’t necessarily identify the weak points that can result in in a disaster.”

An LFB spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Prevention is by far the best way to protect London’s historic and culturally significant buildings, and we continue to work closely with owners, occupiers and partner agencies to reduce fire risk and improve resilience across the capital’s heritage estate.

“Through our dedicated heritage work, fire safety officers engage with those responsible for historic buildings to promote effective fire safety measures, share specialist guidance and encourage robust emergency and salvage planning. We also carry out familiarisation visits and salvage exercises at heritage sites to ensure firefighters are prepared to respond effectively should an incident occur.

“Protecting heritage buildings is a shared responsibility involving building owners, those responsible for managing premises, local authorities and fire and rescue services. We welcome any measures that help strengthen the protection of these important buildings for future generations.

“We continue to keep our resources, training and priorities under regular review to ensure they remain aligned with risk and demand, including the needs of heritage sites across London. As part of our ongoing emergency planning, we encourage building managers to maintain up-to-date salvage plans which identify priority actions and items that should be protected or recovered in the event of a fire.”

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