Fire safety probe continues at Dawson House in Billingham

Dawson House, on Queensway, was evacuated last Thursday (September 5) evening following a routine check, forcing residents to be moved to nearby hotels.

Investigations had found that smoke would not have been able to be effectively extracted from the building in case of a fire, posing a risk.

Dawson House, in Billingham (Image: TERRY BLACKBURN)

Pictures taken from the evening showed staff and residents at the entrance of the block after being told they would have to leave - with resident Jason Allison saying there were “13 staff who told us that we have to evacuate” when he arrived home that night. 

Housing association Thirteen has confirmed that ongoing assessments of the building are taking place, but that bosses “can’t be certain how long this will take”. 

Chief executive Matt Forrest said he knows it will “not be a quick process” and has therefore taken the decision to offer those affected either permanent or temporary accommodation.

Residents were evacuated from the building (Image: TERRY BLACKBURN)

Thirteen - which will cover all moving costs - it was doing “everything we can to support them to move” in a statement released on Tuesday (September 10).

A full statement from Mr Forrest, said: “Last week we took extra precautions to move all of our customers from Dawson House, following a pre-arranged safety inspection, which showed that we could not be certain that we would be able to safely extract all of the smoke from the emergency exits within the building, in the event of a fire.

“While we continue to investigate fire safety issues at Dawson House, Thirteen remains in constant contact with customers impacted.

“It is in the best interests of customers to not be within Dawson House during the evolving ongoing assessments of the building.

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“We can’t be certain how long this will take to complete; however, we now know that this will not be a quick process, so we have taken the decision to offer those affected alternative accommodation, either permanently or temporarily, based on their specific needs.

“We appreciate this is unsettling for customers and we are doing everything we can to support them to move. 

“To ensure the process is as stress-free and straightforward as possible, Thirteen will cover all moving costs, which will be overseen by our dedicated response team, who continue to be on hand 24/7 for our customers.”