Terry Sarten: The poorer you are, the more you get burnt

TRAGEDY: The charred remains of the Grenfell tower block.PHOTO/ GETTY IMAGES

THE devastating fire that completely destroyed the Grenfell Tower social housing block in London, with a still uncertain final total death toll, has brought a focus on inequality, austerity politics and the consequent costs of cuts to essential services.

The tower block was an island of relatively poor people living in the middle of one of the world's wealthiest suburbs.

Reports tell the tales of migrants, elderly, children and families managing on low incomes who had repeatedly told their local council of concerns about the fire risks but were ignored because they did not have the voice of the wealthy.

Austerity policies that cut corners on construction methods by using cheaper but non-fire proof materials, plus funding cuts to fire services, combined to create a preventable tragedy with - at the last count - 80 people dying in the fire, and a huge need for assistance for survivors who have lost everything.

British researcher Chris Hastie mapped the location of accidental home fires in the West Midlands region between September 2010 and August 2013, then linked this with socio-economic and demographic data.

The study turned up some stark inequalities relating to economic disadvantage, such as income, health, housing overcrowding and under-employment.

The strong links to unemployment were evident. The 10 per cent of neighbourhoods with the highest and lowest levels of employment deprivation, showed the most deprived areas have fire rates 3.4 times higher than the least deprived.

The pattern of deprivation and fire incidents was clear across a range of data, reinforcing the socio-economic aspect of home fires and showed that the have-nots are more likely to suffer the loss of home, health and possibly life to fire than the have-lots.

Mr Hastie, speaking about his research, said that some thought of fire as a great leveller that did not recognise wealth or social status.

"The truth, however, is very different," he said.

"Incidents of fire are not distributed evenly through society, but tend to be concentrated among poorer and more marginalised communities."

Dear reader, you may be wondering what this means to us here in New Zealand.

Well, we do share same aspects of the legislated austerity policies that are hitting the unemployed and low paid in Britain and we do have similar clear divisions across society created by a succession of measures that has pushed inequalities out to the edge of safety.

A study of social and economic deprivation and fatal unintentional domestic fire incidents in New Zealand 1988-1998 - published in August 2000 by the University of Otago - tells an important story that needs to be heard.

Their research found that fatal domestic fire incidents occurred disproportionately in dwellings in the most socially and materially deprived areas. Rates of fatal
fires in the most deprived decile were 4.5 times the rates in the
least deprived decile.

The data, like the British study, was gathered by matching census and deprivation indices against Fire Service incident reports. Like the British study, the links between fire risk and inequality are very clear.

In both countries, the research summaries and prevention strategies point to a political willingness to address the socio-economic determinants that create deprivation as critical.

The Fire Service often successfully saves lives when a house goes up in flames and works with communities to dampen the risk factors, but unless we light a fire under our politicians they are unlikely to feel the heat and act to mitigate this lethal aspect of inequality.

■Terry Sarten (aka Tel) is a writer, musician and social worker - feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz