CLADDING which may have helped the spread of a fire in a block of student flats in Bolton is present in several West Yorkshire high-rise buildings, the fire service has said.

Two floors of the Cube building fitted with high-pressure laminate (HPL) coloured panels were destroyed last week.

It is not the ACM cladding that combusted in the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017 but concerns have been raised that residents living in buildings with the cladding may be at risk.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said its “complex” investigation will consider what, if any, role the external wall materials played in the development and spread of the fire.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service did not respond to questions about which high-rise blocks in the county had the HPL cladding but said some building owners had previously informed them that they had this type of cladding on their buildings.

It said in a statement: “WYFRS is clearly aware of the incident which occurred in Bolton over the weekend, and we await further information from our colleagues in Greater Manchester FRS who are currently investigating the cause of the fire and how it came to spread as it did.

“Following guidance for building owners published by the government we are aware of some building owners coming forward to inform us that they have various forms of cladding on their buildings, some of this has been noted to be High Pressure Laminate (HPL) cladding. However, every individual case needs to be assessed in conjunction with the insulation to determine its suitability.

“In cases which the building owner has identified through testing that the cladding reacts similar to that of ACM, we have treated it as such by ensuring interim measures are introduced as per government guidance and to increase the number of appliances that attend if an incident were to occur.

“The duty placed upon building owners to understand the way in which a building is constructed and to plan for the event of fire remains unchanged though clearly this incident, and others, highlight the urgent need for changes to building regulations to be moved on at a much quicker pace, and for all fire safety measures to be maintained to the required current standard.”

The recent inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster called for an end to the ‘stay put’ policy for high rises if there is a fire.

WYFRS said: “It is something of a misnomer to badge the ‘stay put’ policy as a FRS policy. The guidance comes about as a consequence of properly designed and constructed buildings, with effective compartmentation, being able to contain a fire within the compartment of origin for 60 minutes – such buildings are designed not to require a full evacuation in the event of fire.

“Whilst there are recent, high profile, examples where such buildings have failed there are equally a significant majority of such incidents where the building performs exactly as designed and ‘stay put’ is perfectly appropriate guidance. Our operational commanders and 999 Fire Control staff are trained to recognise where a compartmentation failure has occurred and on such occasions may choose to advise a full evacuation.

“We join the National Fire Chiefs Council in reiterating to government that if buildings are not designed, constructed and maintained in a safe condition then fire and rescue services cannot accurately predict the development, or lessen the impact of, a fire in circumstances similar to those at the Grenfell Tower fire.

“This leads to the very real risk of another incident involving a similarly large loss of life.”