Fire safety systems and sprinkler system at Centralis House following the recent fire
Case reference FOI2026/01176
Received 21 September 2026
Published 12 November 2026
Request
I am requesting information relating to the London Fire Brigade's attendance at the fire at Centralis House, SE13 7AX, particularly concerning the building's fire safety systems and sprinkler system. Please provide any releasable information or records showing:
the date and time London Fire Brigade attended the incident; whether the sprinkler system activated during the fire;
if the sprinkler system did not activate, whether LFB recorded any reason why it did not;
whether LFB inspected or identified any issue with the sprinkler system when attending; any observations or findings concerning the building's fire safety systems, including sprinklers, fire alarms, fire doors and compartmentation; any information recorded regarding the condition or operation of these systems when LFB attended;
any recommendations, referrals or follow-up actions made by LFB concerning the building following the fire; and copies of any releasable incident reports, photographs or other records relating to these matters.
I am particularly interested in information concerning the operation of the sprinkler system during the fire and any findings LFB recorded regarding why it did or did not activate.
Response
Please see my response to your requests below:
Please provide any releasable information or records showing:
· the date and time London Fire Brigade attended the incident;
LFB attended a fire at Centralis House, SE13 on 16 September 2026. The LFB incident number is 196555-16092026.
A full list of incidents attended by the LFB is published via the London DataStore and can be accessed via this link: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-fire-brigade-incident-records.
This dataset is updated monthly and contains further details of the time the incident occurred. You can use the ‘Incident Number’ to find out further details about this incident using the published information.
· whether the sprinkler system activated during the fire;
· if the sprinkler system did not activate, whether LFB recorded any reason why it did not;
· whether LFB inspected or identified any issue with the sprinkler system when attending;
· any observations or findings concerning the building's fire safety systems, including sprinklers, fire alarms, fire doors and compartmentation;
· any information recorded regarding the condition or operation of these systems when LFB attended;
· any recommendations, referrals or follow-up actions made by LFB concerning the building following the fire; and copies of any releasable incident reports, photographs or other records relating to these matters.
In response to the remainder of your requests:
Attending crews may record if active firefighting systems (such as sprinklers) are present in vicinity of fire when completing the Incident Management Record. Specific incident records (reports) are exempt from disclosure under the FOI act via section 21 - Information accessible to applicant by other means. However, detailed information about accessing a fire report can be found on LFB's website here: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/about-us/services-and-facilities/services-we-offer/incident-reports/ which should read alongside https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/media/r4ghpwck/policy-number-0874-lfb-charges-for-information-web.pdf
A Senior Fire Safety Officer attended the building following fire at Centralis House, SE13 on 16 September 2026. I have attached a copy of the Senior Fire Safety Officer report in the ‘Documents’ section below as PDF file: ‘SFSOReport (redacted)’. Please note that personal data has been redacted from this document under section 40 of the FOI act – Personal Information.
Our Prevention and Protection (Fire Safety) Department records show that no fire safety audits (inspections) have been conducted at Centralis House, SE13 after the fire (16 September 2026).
Documents
This is London Fire Brigade's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.