There's been a huge tower block fire in the White City area, apparently it started between midnight and 1am, and spread incredibly quickly. Some people saying it was started by a fridge exploding, others that there was work to convert electricity supply to gas recently. Reports of people screaming for help and jumping from the building. Apparently there are people still trapped. I hope that no one here has been affected. It looks like hell.






http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40270582

Horrifying. There's been several fatalities.

I just don't understand how it spread so quickly. I would have thought with current regulations there would have been something to halt or contain it. People are saying the fire alarms didn't even go off.

Yes, it seems to have been terrifyingly quick. God knows what went wrong.

It's a failing on the part of the council if the fire alarms weren't operational I guess. Nightmare.

Fallible wrote:I just don't understand how it spread so quickly. I would have thought with current regulations there would have been something to halt or contain it. People are saying the fire alarms didn't even go off.

It was built in the 1970s and probably doesn't even come close to current regulations, even if they might have made a few token attempts to refurb it. Pretty much everything built then contains a shit ton of toxic materials, dropped ceilings, and conduits that allow fire and smoke to rapidly spread throughout the building. It might just about have been modern enough to have learned from the lessons of Ronan Point, where a tower block collapsed like a house of cards after a gas explosion, but probably not much more than that.

Matt_B wrote:

Fallible wrote:I just don't understand how it spread so quickly. I would have thought with current regulations there would have been something to halt or contain it. People are saying the fire alarms didn't even go off.

It was built in the 1970s and probably doesn't even come close to current regulations, even if they might have made a few token attempts to refurb it. Pretty much everything built then contains a shit ton of toxic materials, dropped ceilings, and conduits that allow fire and smoke to rapidly spread throughout the building. It might just about have been modern enough to have learned from the lessons of Ronan Point, where a tower block collapsed like a house of cards after a gas explosion, but probably not much more than that.

It had been refurbished in the last 18 months.

Insane - it appears the sprinkler system which should knock it out before it goes anywhere was off line or malfunctioned, and no fire alarms - the two may be related.

One of the worst things was residents being told to stay inside...



Going to be a lot sleepless guilt ridden nights for those that issued the orders.

Michael Paramaseevan, who lives on the seventh floor with his girlfriend and young daughter, said he ignored official advice to stay in your home.
"If we had stayed in that flat, we would've perished. My gut instinct told me just to get the girls out. I wrapped the little one up because of the smoke and I just got them out."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-40269625

Looks like the fire spread through recently added Aluminium Cladding, which is a severe fire hazard.

The residents have been complaining about the block for a long time now.

There is also, apparently only one staircase.



Source: https://twitter.com/themarkashley/statu ... 1977729025

However, I may be wrong. We'll have to wait for the inquiry.

EDIT: Replaced the first link with an Internet archive link, because the company, naturally, took the page down.

Hadil Alamily told the Guardian she had seen “someone jump on fire from the top floor”. She said the man was flashing a light in an SOS pattern. “He was screaming ‘Help, help, help!’ but no one helped. He dashed a mattress out of the window. He was literally on fire and jumped.”

coverage from the Guardian....
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... oad-london

Double glazing and cladding and NO fire suppression !!!! ....how do you spend 10 million on "upgrades" and not start with fire control and safety.
You gotta know there will be many undocumented living there ..... ;(

Very bad indeed.

Macdoc wrote:You gotta know there will be many undocumented living there ..... ;(

What do you mean?

I'd like to think that people will be held responsible for this. Not confident though. A former head of the residents association was just on the news saying he was threatened for raising fire safety concerns.

A lot of architects I know complain about the stringent fire regulations here. They should have to watch video of this fire.

LucidFlight wrote:Very bad indeed.

Macdoc wrote:You gotta know there will be many undocumented living there ..... ;(

What do you mean?

Well that is common Britain; No registration and illegal sub-letting. Nobody has a clue of who lives where.

I'm With Stupid wrote:I'd like to think that people will be held responsible for this. Not confident though. A former head of the residents association was just on the news saying he was threatened for raising fire safety concerns.

And it turns out the company that did the refurbishment went into administration shortly after finishing the job.

The speed at which the fire spread (it should have been contained in the apartment where it started) strongly suggests substandard materials were used.

Tzelemel wrote:Looks like the fire spread through recently added Aluminium Cladding

Wow, that page was taken down fast.

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The town council planning dept:

Plannind Department

The nearby school is clad in the same material.

Scot Dutchy wrote:

LucidFlight wrote:Very bad indeed.

Macdoc wrote:You gotta know there will be many undocumented living there ..... ;(

What do you mean?

Well that is common Britain; No registration and illegal sub-letting. Nobody has a clue of who lives where.

Oh, I seeeee.

I read through all those planning documents and never came across the subject of fire safety. The staircase was referred to as the fire escape but what is was made out of is not stated or the fire doors.