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Wilton Street, Lozells (Fire?)

G

Geminidi

proper brummie kid
I am new to this Forum and apologise if I am posting this incorrectly. I have replied to other posts about Wilton Street previously, and this time I'm asking if there was a fire between 1959 and 1965 when people died (children?) I left 1/17 Wilton Street in 1958, where I lived as child, but my Grandmother was still there. Mum and I would visit her and on a wall in one of the two bedrooms on the top floor some bricks had been removed and replaced with a sheet of thin timber. Wording on it read "Fire - Break to escape - Keep clear". The three storey houses back then would have been fire traps! Mum says she never saw it but would have had no reason to go upstairs and see the "escape wall", which hadn't been constructed during our time there. My Grandmother couldn't have mentioned it either. I was still a child and must have wandered into the now empty rooms out of curiosity! I live in Australia now but still remember those words after nearly 60 years!
 
What you are describing is a “kickdown” wall that were installed in houses that had more than two stories. The detail in the design varied but generally they were a sheet of plasterboard that you could kick a hole in and escape. Some had a door over the plaster board too.

Building regulations changed, as they do and now fire check doors are fitted that are rated half house or one hour: they duration they can withstand a fire. The doors and frames are also fitted with ‘Intumescent Strip’ that in heat swell up and seal the door from smoke ingress.

The idea is the fire brigade should be able to get to you within half an hour.
 
Morturn said:
What you are describing is a “kickdown” wall that were installed in houses that had more than two stories. The detail in the design varied but generally they were a sheet of plasterboard that you could kick a hole in and escape. Some had a door over the plaster board too.

Building regulations changed, as they do and now fire check doors are fitted that are rated half house or one hour: they duration they can withstand a fire. The doors and frames are also fitted with ‘Intumescent Strip’ that in heat swell up and seal the door from smoke ingress.

The idea is the fire brigade should be able to get to you within half an hour.
Click to expand...
hi mort yes exactly right we had a kick board in our attic at villa st...it led us to the attic next door..thankfully we never had to use it

lyn
 
The one I'm talking about was obviously like you describe. We lived in a back to back (about 100 years old) with three storeys. Like yours Lyn the kickdown led to a bedroom in the house facing the street. Do you know anything about a house fire happening in the area?
 
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