FOI release

Freedom of Information Request – Fatal Fire at East Street, London (1 January 2023)

Case reference FOI2026/00876

Received 28 July 2026

Published 11 September 2026

Request

I write to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning the fatal fire that occurred on 1 January 2023 at Old Kent Road, London.

I would be grateful if you could provide copies of the following documents and information held by the London Fire Brigade.

1. The complete Fatal Fire Investigation Report, including all appendices, photographs, diagrams, plans and supporting documents.

2. The complete Specialist Fire Safety Officer (SFSO) Report, including all appendices and supporting documentation.

3. Any post-incident audit, post-fire audit, fire safety audit, review or inspection carried out following this incident, together with all associated reports, correspondence and internal notes.

4. All documents relating to the Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for the premises, including copies of all FRAs held by the London Fire Brigade, together with any correspondence, emails or internal discussions regarding whether the FRA was suitable and sufficient.

5. All correspondence, including emails, letters and internal communications, between the London Fire Brigade and:

* HM Coroner or the Coroner’s Office;

* the London Borough of Southwark;

* the Metropolitan Police;

* any other public authority, relating to this incident.

6. Any internal communications, reports or decision logs concerning:

* the consideration of a Prevention of Future Deaths Report;

* requests received from the Coroner;

* the preparation of information for the Coroner;

* the reasons for any delay in providing information requested by the Coroner.

7. Any documents explaining the decision not to carry out, or to delay, a post-fire audit following this fatal incident.

8. Any London Fire Brigade policies, guidance or operational procedures that were in force at the time concerning:

* fatal fire investigations;

* post-fire audits;

* obtaining and reviewing Fire Risk Assessments;

* liaison with HM Coroner;

* investigations involving Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

9. Any lessons learned reports, debrief reports, recommendations or internal reviews arising from this incident.

10. Any records showing when the London Fire Brigade first obtained a copy of the Fire Risk Assessment for the premises.

11. Copies of all witness statements, interview records, contemporaneous notes or written accounts obtained from London Fire Brigade personnel in relation to this incident, including firefighters, fire investigators, Specialist Fire Safety Officers and officers in attendance.

12. Any documents, reports, analyses, timelines, diagrams, photographs, videos or other records relating to the progression and development of the fire, including any assessment or reconstruction of how the fire spread throughout the building.

13. Any documents, reports, witness statements, notes or analyses relating to the behaviour and movements of the occupants during the incident, including:

* attempts to escape;

* rescue attempts;

* observations made by firefighters;

* any survivability assessments;

* any analysis of the actions of those present during the fire.

14. Copies of any investigation logs, decision logs, contemporaneous notes, notebooks, electronic records or other investigation documents created during the investigation that have not previously been disclosed.

15. Copies of any photographs, video recordings, body-worn video, drone footage or other visual evidence held by the London Fire Brigade relating to this incident, where disclosure is not otherwise prohibited by law.

If any of the requested information is exempt from disclosure, please identify the specific exemption relied upon and provide any information that can be disclosed with appropriate redactions. If complying with the entire request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would be grateful if you could advise me how the request may be refined so that the maximum amount of information can be provided. I look forward to your response within the statutory 20 working days.

Response

Thank you for your request for information concerning the fire that occurred on 1 January 2023 at Old Kent Road, London.

Relationship with request FOI2026/00587

Before considering your request, London Fire Brigade noted that it relates to the same incident and substantially overlaps with information requested under reference FOI2026/00587.

Both requests seek extensive information concerning the investigation of the incident, including investigation records, fire safety matters, Fire Risk Assessment documentation, post-fire audit considerations, fire progression issues, associated reports, supporting material and related correspondence.

The Freedom of Information Act permits substantially similar requests to be refused under section 14(2) in certain circumstances. However, section 14(2) applies only in limited circumstances and requires consideration of factors including the information previously provided and the extent of any overlap between requests.

Whilst there is significant overlap between the two requests, the present request also contains additional categories of information not expressly sought in FOI2026/00587, including witness statements, investigation logs, operational records, body-worn video, policy documents, correspondence with external organisations and other categories of material. Accordingly, London Fire Brigade has considered the request on its own merits.

Section 12(1) Freedom of Information Act 2000

London Fire Brigade estimates that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit prescribed by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

For local authorities and fire and rescue authorities, the appropriate limit is £450, calculated at a statutory rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours of work.

The estimate is limited to the activities permitted by regulation 4(3), namely:

  • determining whether information is held;

  • locating information;

  • retrieving information; and

  • extracting information from records.

Breadth of the request

Your request is exceptionally broad and seeks information spanning numerous subject matters and record categories relating to a single incident.

The request encompasses, amongst other things:

  1. Fatal fire investigation reports and supporting material.

  2. Specialist Fire Safety Officer reports and associated records.

  3. Post-fire audits, reviews and inspection records.

  4. Fire Risk Assessments and associated correspondence.

  5. Correspondence with HM Coroner, the Metropolitan Police, Southwark Council and other public authorities.

  6. Internal communications relating to coronial proceedings.

  7. Policies, procedures and guidance documents.

  8. Lessons learned and debrief material.

  9. Witness statements and interview records.

  10. Investigation logs and decision logs.

  11. Fire progression analyses and reconstruction material.

  12. Occupant behaviour and survivability assessments.

  13. Photographs, videos, body-worn video and other visual evidence.

  14. Internal notes, notebooks and electronic investigation records.

The request is not confined to final reports. It expressly seeks supporting documentation, correspondence, communications, notes, statements, records and other material generated throughout the investigation and subsequent consideration of the incident.

Consequently, information potentially falling within scope may be held across multiple business areas, including Fire Investigation, Fire Safety Regulation, Operational Response, Legal Services, senior management records, policy teams, email systems, document management systems, case management systems and other corporate information repositories.

Cost estimate

To comply with the request, London Fire Brigade would need to identify all officers, teams and repositories potentially involved with the incident and undertake searches across multiple systems and locations.

As part of assessing the request, London Fire Brigade carried out a preliminary information-gathering exercise to understand the scale of information potentially falling within scope. This exercise identified a substantial volume of potentially relevant records held across a range of systems and business areas.

Whilst many of these records are likely to be duplicates or otherwise fall outside the precise scope of the request, the remaining volume of material is still considerable. Identifying which records fall within the request, locating them, retrieving them and extracting the requested information would require the examination of a significant number of records.

London Fire Brigade estimates that the time required to undertake those activities would exceed the statutory appropriate limit of 18 hours (£450 at £25 per hour) by a substantial margin.

The estimate does not include any time that may subsequently be required to consider exemptions, undertake consultations, apply redactions or prepare information for disclosure, as these activities cannot be taken into account for the purposes of section 12.

Accordingly, London Fire Brigade estimates that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit and is therefore not obliged to comply with the request in accordance with section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Advice and assistance

In accordance with section 16 of the Act, you may wish to refine the request to a small number of specific categories of recorded information.

For example, you may wish to limit the request to:

  • the final Fatal Fire Investigation Report;

  • the final Specialist Fire Safety Officer Report; or

  • any final post-fire audit report held by London Fire Brigade.

A request framed in this way would be more likely to fall within the appropriate limit.

However, it is important to manage expectations regarding the information that may ultimately be disclosed. Records concerning a fatal fire investigation commonly contain personal data, confidential communications, witness evidence, investigatory material and information relating to the exercise of regulatory and enforcement functions. Such information may be subject to exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Accordingly, even where information can be located within the appropriate limit, some or all of that information may be exempt from disclosure.

Your right to appeal

If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request an internal review by writing to the Information Access Team within 40 working days of the date of this response.

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of an internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner under section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is London Fire Brigade's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

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