West London Fire

[Deleted]

Not again. Another incident that happened just under a month in the UK. I do hope everyone is fine.

[RandomBusesGirl]

Gosh, that is horrible.

I sincerely hope nobody died, but can't help the feeling that this isn't it

It also reminds me of an eerily similar incident I've seen in a documentary about Iran - a block like that was also burning with hundreds and hundreds of people helplessly overwatching from street level, only for it to collapse in front of everyone… From what I remember, multiple firefighters died heros that day - that happened early 2017/late 2016 from what I recall.

Either way, thoughts with everyone affected

[sid]

Absolutely horrendous and clearly some serious questions are going to be asked about how this has happened, residents had expressed safety concerns previously.

My thoughts go out to all concerned and sadly multiple casualties seem inevitable.

[planesandtrains]

Reading the reports just makes me feel sick. It is just horrible.

[vjaska]

Woke up today at 12 noon and didn't know what was going on so turned on Sky News and saw the pictures and I've never seen any building look so ravaged after a fire and I've witnessed a few tower block fires before as well as actually being involved in one where my own life was in jeopardy. Thoughts with the injured & deceased but the grimmest thing is that almost certainly, there are tragically more deceased still within the building.

[sid]

I was up about 06.00 and turned the TV on and thought there had been another terrorist attack. This should have been a routine call for the fire brigade, they were there within six minutes and the fire should have been contained within the flat where it started, clearly the external cladding was a factor in it spreading so rapidly. If there is any consolation at least the block doesn't appear to be in danger of collapsing.

[T.R.]

Sadly there are fatalities, with it set to rise.
Condolences go to the victims/ families and thoughts with anyone affected.

On the other hand it's very heartwarming to see the community response to families displaced.

[mondraker275]

Jun 14, 2017 14:52:08 GMT T.R. said:

Sadly there are fatalities, with it set to rise.
Condolences go to the victims/ families and thoughts with anyone affected.

On the other hand it's very heartwarming to see the community response to families displaced.

Agree, the support has been great and fast. One of the few great things of the social media world is how people get connected and support each other in times of difficulty.

I was up at 3am and saw the developments live and was shocked and could not really go back to sleep.

I would not be surprised if death toll goes close to three figures. Hope that I am wrong.

Your signature is appropriate for the families.


Added link to blog from the residents association. What a blog. Someone's in trouble. grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/

[Deleted]

This is truly awful!  when i first woke up and see the images I though it was another terror attack! 

I have spent the whole day in a daze reading Twitter and various website whilst trying to work.   Never seen a fire like this in my life!  I just hope and pray nothing sinister comes out of this and it was just a very tragic accident.

I don't want to seem controversial but this don't seem to be getting as much reaction /response from the Government!  As the PM been seen on TV yet?  12 life's and counting have been lost. 

[Eastlondoner62]

Jun 14, 2017 16:41:10 GMT @dannyb said:

This is truly awful!  when i first woke up and see the images I though it was another terror attack! 

I have spent the whole day in a daze reading Twitter and various website whilst trying to work.   Never seen a fire like this in my life!  I just hope and pray nothing sinister comes out of this and it was just a very tragic accident.

I don't want to seem controversial but this don't seem to be getting as much reaction from the Government!  As the PM been seen on TV yet?  12 life's and counting have been lost. 

Theresa May did call a meeting as well as sending various messages throughout the day and was being briefed often on the development on the situation.

[Eastlondoner62]

Something nice of some bus drivers at RR to do: www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/news/sisters-organise-barking-bus-for-grenfell-tower-donations-1-5061795

[joefrombow]

Jun 14, 2017 14:52:08 GMT T.R. said:

Sadly there are fatalities, with it set to rise.
Condolences go to the victims/ families and thoughts with anyone affected.

On the other hand it's very heartwarming to see the community response to families displaced.

The response has been truly amazing London is full of a lot of "Bad" and Rude people but the response to this has been really amazing and definitely heartwarming so so sad what has happened , but so so good to see everyone come together and help out and the Love that has been shown truly amazing .

[vjaska]

Jun 14, 2017 13:59:19 GMT sid said:

I was up about 06.00 and turned the TV on and thought there had been another terrorist attack. This should have been a routine call for the fire brigade, they were there within six minutes and the fire should have been contained within the flat where it started, clearly the external cladding was a factor in it spreading so rapidly. If there is any consolation at least the block doesn't appear to be in danger of collapsing.

It does seem to be the case that the cladding was at fault - apparently, a vacuum can appear within the cladding which allows fire to rapidly spread up or across a building. Interesting to note though that the USA & Germany have banned certain types of cladding from being used whilst Dubai has recently introduced a law following a fire at a hotel involving cladding in 2015 that cladding is no longer a requirement for new buildings and that any cladding used has to meet strict tests. Furthemore, apparently the cladding used on Grenfell Tower came as either a fire resistant or a non resistant type with the cost difference being just £2.00 odd per piece which would of added up to an extra £5,000 on top of the £10m refurbishment. A paper critic who lives in the borough also said that the planning department in that area are obsessed with appearance which goes along with some residents views that cladding was installed at the request of some of the middle & upper class residents in the area. The fire bigrade said earlier today that the sides of the building are unsafe which seems to suggest there may possibly be a collapse at some point.

I've always been against adding cladding to concrete tower blocks - yes I'm a fan of brutalist architecture but I don't see the enhancement in them personally and I've always thought appearance should pale into insignificance versus structural integrity & safety which for me is paramount. The blocks on my estate next to Rush Common, of which two I used to live in during my life, had cladding installed last year and if I was still living there now, I'd be gravely concerned about the safety of the material used. All but one of the blocks on my estate were last refurbished in 1996 with three left to rot (two were pulled down whilst the third was heavily refurbished and had cladding installed nearly 10 years ago) and from what I can remember, they had fire doors fitted but no other safety features.

[sid]

Jun 16, 2017 1:15:36 GMT vjaska said:

Jun 14, 2017 13:59:19 GMT sid said:

I was up about 06.00 and turned the TV on and thought there had been another terrorist attack. This should have been a routine call for the fire brigade, they were there within six minutes and the fire should have been contained within the flat where it started, clearly the external cladding was a factor in it spreading so rapidly. If there is any consolation at least the block doesn't appear to be in danger of collapsing.

It does seem to be the case that the cladding was at fault - apparently, a vacuum can appear within the cladding which allows fire to rapidly spread up or across a building. Interesting to note though that the USA & Germany have banned certain types of cladding from being used whilst Dubai has recently introduced a law following a fire at a hotel involving cladding in 2015 that cladding is no longer a requirement for new buildings and that any cladding used has to meet strict tests. Furthemore, apparently the cladding used on Grenfell Tower came as either a fire resistant or a non resistant type with the cost difference being just £2.00 odd per piece which would of added up to an extra £5,000 on top of the £10m refurbishment. A paper critic who lives in the borough also said that the planning department in that area are obsessed with appearance which goes along with some residents views that cladding was installed at the request of some of the middle & upper class residents in the area. The fire bigrade said earlier today that the sides of the building are unsafe which seems to suggest there may possibly be a collapse at some point.

I've always been against adding cladding to concrete tower blocks - yes I'm a fan of brutalist architecture but I don't see the enhancement in them personally and I've always thought appearance should pale into insignificance versus structural integrity & safety which for me is paramount. The blocks on my estate next to Rush Common, of which two I used to live in during my life, had cladding installed last year and if I was still living there now, I'd be gravely concerned about the safety of the material used. All but one of the blocks on my estate were last refurbished in 1996 with three left to rot (two were pulled down whilst the third was heavily refurbished and had cladding installed nearly 10 years ago) and from what I can remember, they had fire doors fitted but no other safety features.

Yes without wishing to prejudge anything it does seem that the type of cladding used was the main factor here and more concerning is that the same sort of cladding has apparently been fitted to other tower blocks. Surely it will all have to be removed forthwith and in the longer term all these tower blocks from the 60s and 70s demolished? Certainly if I were living in such a tower block with cladding I wouldn't be sleeping very easily at night. There was a tower block fire in Melbourne Australia a few years ago that was exacerbated by the cladding although there was no loss of life.

I saw a tower block fire in New Addington many years ago and it was all dealt with in textbook fashion, the fire was contained within the flat, there was no evacuation and the fire brigade arrived within a few minutes and extinguished it very quickly. I saw the aftermath of the Lakanal House fire in Southwark a few years ago and that was bad enough but I never imagined we would see anything on the scale of Grenfell Tower in this country.

Whilst we've seen the best side of humanity in the wake of this we've also seen some of the worst and I thought that rude little brat heckling Sadiq Khan really was appalling, obviously feelings are running high but that was totally uncalled for. It's probably going to be a few weeks before the final death toll is known, the building will have to be made safe before any search can begin and inevitably it's likely to run into hundreds with some victims never being identified.

[vjaska]

Jun 16, 2017 6:26:59 GMT sid said:

Jun 16, 2017 1:15:36 GMT vjaska said:

It does seem to be the case that the cladding was at fault - apparently, a vacuum can appear within the cladding which allows fire to rapidly spread up or across a building. Interesting to note though that the USA & Germany have banned certain types of cladding from being used whilst Dubai has recently introduced a law following a fire at a hotel involving cladding in 2015 that cladding is no longer a requirement for new buildings and that any cladding used has to meet strict tests. Furthemore, apparently the cladding used on Grenfell Tower came as either a fire resistant or a non resistant type with the cost difference being just £2.00 odd per piece which would of added up to an extra £5,000 on top of the £10m refurbishment. A paper critic who lives in the borough also said that the planning department in that area are obsessed with appearance which goes along with some residents views that cladding was installed at the request of some of the middle & upper class residents in the area. The fire bigrade said earlier today that the sides of the building are unsafe which seems to suggest there may possibly be a collapse at some point.

I've always been against adding cladding to concrete tower blocks - yes I'm a fan of brutalist architecture but I don't see the enhancement in them personally and I've always thought appearance should pale into insignificance versus structural integrity & safety which for me is paramount. The blocks on my estate next to Rush Common, of which two I used to live in during my life, had cladding installed last year and if I was still living there now, I'd be gravely concerned about the safety of the material used. All but one of the blocks on my estate were last refurbished in 1996 with three left to rot (two were pulled down whilst the third was heavily refurbished and had cladding installed nearly 10 years ago) and from what I can remember, they had fire doors fitted but no other safety features.

Yes without wishing to prejudge anything it does seem that the type of cladding used was the main factor here and more concerning is that the same sort of cladding has apparently been fitted to other tower blocks. Surely it will all have to be removed forthwith and in the longer term all these tower blocks from the 60s and 70s demolished? Certainly if I were living in such a tower block with cladding I wouldn't be sleeping very easily at night. There was a tower block fire in Melbourne Australia a few years ago that was exacerbated by the cladding although there was no loss of life.

I saw a tower block fire in New Addington many years ago and it was all dealt with in textbook fashion, the fire was contained within the flat, there was no evacuation and the fire brigade arrived within a few minutes and extinguished it very quickly. I saw the aftermath of the Lakanal House fire in Southwark a few years ago and that was bad enough but I never imagined we would see anything on the scale of Grenfell Tower in this country.

Whilst we've seen the best side of humanity in the wake of this we've also seen some of the worst and I thought that rude little brat heckling Sadiq Khan really was appalling, obviously feelings are running high but that was totally uncalled for. It's probably going to be a few weeks before the final death toll is known, the building will have to be made safe before any search can begin and inevitably it's likely to run into hundreds with some victims never being identified.

I think calls to pull down 1960's & 1970's tower blocks are a knee jerk reaction - they can be very safe to live in if the local authority or owner looks after them. The ones on my estate are in a decent condition but they do need better fire safety inside and I believe it can be achieved if they follow the recommendations. Concrete Tower Blocks are very good at preventing a blaze from spreading and given some new buildings aren't up to scratch such as the one I live in which is nearly 9 years old and has had many problems with damp resulting in me having to live in a hotel for 5 months earlier this year, I did actually think I was better off back living in my old ground floor tower block flat. Knocking down tower blocks would also further exasperate the housing crisis as you could not the same number of housing where one stood before.