Deputy leader asks fire brigade to help tackle rough sleeping ‘hazards’
Councillors said Camden Town Tube station was a hotspot for fire risk from rough sleepers. Image: Google
Camden Council’s deputy leader has appealed to the fire brigade to help the Town Hall deal with fire hazards in rough sleeping hotspots.
During a housing and fire safety advisory panel on Wednesday (23 April), Cllr Patricia Callaghan, who is also cabinet member for safer communities, asked a local station commander if the emergency services could pitch in and “work with” people sleeping in tents over fire safety.
“We have had lot of rough sleepers around Camden Town Tube, Sainsbury’s, and the nearby Camden Gardens, and they collect a lot of duvets,” she said.
“One gentleman was there who sniffed lighter fluid,” Callaghan said, arguing that this posed a fire risk because the streets were strewn with “about 10 feet of around seven duvets and 36 cans of lighter fuel”.
“Could London Fire Brigade get involved? We keep getting absolutely slated in the local press when we move these people on, but if they don’t work with us then we can’t help them anymore.”
Camden has the second-highest number (903) of rough sleepers in the capital, after Westminister, according to data published by Trust for London in September last year.
A council report earlier this month stated that these levels reflect the borough’s position in central London “with transport hubs connected to the wider UK”.
LFB station commander for Euston, Adam Lawson, told the deputy leader he would “certainly look into” the possibility of visiting rough sleepers and advising them about the risk.
He added that the LFB were already engaging with charities to help them design a leaflet on tent safety, but it was “not quite there yet”.
Cllr Callaghan added that the issue was “not about enforcement”, but “just some sort of support around fire safety round there”.
In 2023, the Town Hall was condemned after refuse workers destroyed homeless peoples’ tents following a Section 35 dispersal order being issued on an encampment on Bloomsbury’s Huntley Street.
In the aftermath, deputy leader Cllr Adam Harrison admitted there had been “operational involvement from Camden” but what happened was “unacceptable and did not reflect the council’s values”.
As the council’s then-acting leader, Callaghan ordered an investigation into the incident.
The subsequent review found that there had been a “lack of clarity” about the role of enforcement since the eviction, with “confusion and debate among local partners”.
The Metropolitan Police also issued an apology, after admitting officers had acted unlawfully in removing the tents and ordering the homeless inhabitants to leave.