The challenges of old age and infirmity can be difficult enough, without the worry of whether you are going to get out alive in the event of a fire. So the news of the death of a resident in a fire at a care home in Kent is bad enough. But if you couple this with the increasingly obvious confusion and bewilderment that exists among those running these homes - about what the law expects of them and about their perceived lack of guidance on fire safety - there is the making of a future tragedy on a much larger scale. If a recent meeting organised by the fire industry and attended by over 100 representatives of the care home sector is anything to go by, feelings are running high on this issue. So we call on government, enforcers and the care home providers to get together and clarify any misunderstandings, before it's too late and we're reacting to a major tragedy instead of trying to avoid one.
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