Fire safety
The fire at Lakanal House
On 3 July 2009, a fire broke out in Lakanal House on the Sceaux Gardens Estate in Camberwell, which tragically led to the deaths of six people.
Coroner’s inquests into the deaths commenced in January 2013. The purpose of the inquests was to establish the cause and surrounding circumstances of the deaths and how the fire spread. Unlike criminal trials, inquests do not try to establish whether anyone was responsible for a person’s death. Evidence is given by witnesses, but there is no prosecution or defence. The jury from the inquests returned its verdicts in March 2013.
Most inquests are carried out by the Coroner alone, but in this case the inquests were heard before a jury who gave a verdict at the end of the hearings.
Judge Frances Kirkham, the coroner for the inquests, wrote to Southwark Council in March, setting out a number of areas for improvement or change.
Related information
- Background to the fire
- A press release explaining Southwark’s response
- Q&A about the Lakanal inquests
- Transcripts of the inquests and associated documents (Lambeth Council website)
Page last updated: 16 April 2024
