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'TRAPPED IN A LIFT IS AN EMERGENCY'
Fire Brigades chiefs face a backlash over staff claims
FIRE chiefs are facing a backlash from their own staff after a scared young girl was forced to urinate in front of her family when they were all trapped for three hours in a broken-down Tufnell Park lift.
The Fire Brigade has decided to downgrade call-outs to people stuck in lifts to “non-emergency” status.
But after the Tufnell Park incident, several Camden firefighters have contacted the New Journal to criticise the “dangerous and illogical” policy.
In a bid to reduce the hundreds of unwanted call-outs to lifts in Camden each year – the borough is one of the worst affected by breakdowns in the capital – the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has announced fire crews will only attend as a last resort from November 1.
The Brigade will also charge landlords whose lifts are in disrepair for repeat callouts to the same address.
According to firefighters, the policy is already in effect across the borough – and people are suffering from the fall-out.
Earlier this month, a family of five was trapped for three hours in a lift in the Opal 4 block in Huddlestone Road, Tufnell Park.
The Barnett family, who were visiting their ?nephew in the student accommodation, had to be given water through a hole in the doors in sweltering heat while they waited for lift engineers to reach the scene from south London.
The rescue took so long their four-year-old daughter was forced to urinate in a corner of the lift.
Arthur Barnett, a 52-year-old finance director with the Bahamas Maritime Authority, said the experience had been “humiliating and dehumanising”, adding: “I don’t understand the rationale behind it. I can’t believe the Fire Brigade are so busy that the lives of humans are no longer important.
“An ordeal that could have taken 20 minutes ended up taking three hours.”
The only reason it did not take longer was because staff in the building had the direct line for Kentish Town fire station.
Ben Sprung, the Fire Brigade Union representative for Camden, called on fire chiefs to review the policy.
He said: “I can understand the principle that they want to reduce the amount of reoffending lifts. However, at the same time I do question the logic of it.
“At what point does being stuck in a lift become an emergency? People will end up getting hurt.
“There might be savings to the public purse but ultimately the cost will be passed on. Has there been a proper questioning about whether there are enough provisions to cater for this change in policy? Are there enough engineers?”
Mr Sprung, who was part of the Kentish Town watch who eventually freed the Barnett family, said the whole crew had been affected by the ordeal.
“I’ve never been embarrassed before in this job. The firefighters felt as if they didn’t have the ability to help people,” he added.
The Brigade’s top brass have defended the downgrade.
A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said: “Alongside costing the Brigade millions of pounds, these calls could take firefighters away from emergencies like fires or road traffic collisions.
“The responsibility to make suitable arrangements for lift maintenance and the safe release of anyone shut in lifts is with the owner of a building, not with the emergency
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