Campaigners celebrate new fire safety measures following Twinnell House fire

“The towers united will never be defeated”, are the words residents and members of the housing union, ACORN chanted outside Twinnell House on Saturday.

Campaigners gathered outside the building as part of a vigil which marked two months since Abdul Jabar Oryakhel lost his life and eight people were injured after the blaze broke out on the top floor of the block of flats in Easton.

The group behind the ‘Bristol towers united: fire safety now campaign’ celebrated their “amazing result”, which will see improvements to fire safety measures across all council-owned tower blocks in the city.

Thanks to two months of pressure from the group, Bristol city council has pledged to instal sprinklers in each council-owned tower block, for fire safety wardens to be in each building 24 hours of each day until it is made safe, and for public fire risk assessments for each tower block in Bristol.

“The towers united will never be defeated.” Today residents of council-owned tower blocks in Bristol and members of @ACORN_Bristol are gathered outside Twinnell House in Easton, two months on from the blaze in which Abdul Jabar Oryakhel lost his life pic.twitter.com/zzZxmT41OF

— Rachel Sutherland (@RachelSuthi) November 26, 2022

The gathering saw neighbouring residents from other tower blocks in the city stand in unity for vital safety measures in their homes.

Shaban Ali, a dad-of-two and a Barton House resident, joined the campaign group because of concerns of lack of fire safety measures in his home. He said: “The results for our demands are fantastic, we’ve very happy and ecstatic about them, but unfortunately there were no deadlines put in place for these demands.

“This should not have happened. We’re not asking for special treatment, we’re just asking for common sense – especially after what happened at Grenfell. What politician or councillor wants to have that on their conscience? Yet here we are.

“People living in these buildings have children, health and mobility problems, so imagine in the middle of the night there’s a fire and there are no alarms. What are you meant to do?

“We’re inviting people to join us, we’re a community union, for the community and by the community.

“This is what happens when residents come together, we get the results in a short space of time.

“This is people power at the end of the day.”

Shaban Ali, a dad-of-two, and a Barton House resident, joined the campaign group because of concerns of lack of fire safety measures in his home

Leyla Khalid has lived in Landsdown Court tower block on Easton Road for 12 years. She said her building has 16 floors and only one fire exit.

The 38-year-old care coordinator was at the gathering with her 10-year-old daughter. Leyla, who did not wish to be photographed, said: “We are very, very happy and grateful for the support ACORN and the media has given us in terms of helping us secure these demands.

“It gives me peace of mind, especially when I sleep at night – knowing there’ll be a sprinkler and fire alarms.

“We’re just waiting for the action to happen now and for safety measures to be put in place.

“It’s just shocking that it had to take someone losing their life for them to act and do something about it.”

Residents of tower blocks across Bristol and ACORN members gathered as part of a vigil outside Twinnell House

Nick Ballard, head organiser for ACORN, said: “For eight years ACORN has been the biggest and strongest force for tenants in the country.

“The 72 people who died at Grenfell would still be alive today if their pleas had been taken seriously. Abdul Jabar Oryakhel might still be alive if these new safety measures had already been in place.

“We can’t rely on politicians, council bureaucrats or private contractors to look out for us. The people who are meant to be responsible for our safety will not police themselves.”

You can join ACORN’s community union by visiting its website.

Photos: Rachel Sutherland

Read next: 

• ACORN members demand justice for woman and son who fled Twinnell House fire
• Twinnell House: Man dead and eight in hospital after fire in tower block 
• New safety measures in wake of tower block fires
• ‘I was scared for my life and my son’s life’ – Tower block residents recall night of fire 

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