Catastrophic fire destroys 24 Floor London Tower Block

[Keithcaley]

At about 1 a.m. today a kitchen fire apparently started in an apartment on one of the lower floors of the recently renovated Grenfell Tower in West London, and spread rapidly up the outside of the building.

Within a very short time, the building was ablaze from the 2nd floor to the top.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-engla ... n-40239008

EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBER for people worried about friends or relatives: -

0800 0961 233

It has been suggested that the plastic cladding - a recent addition as part of the renovation work - was a factor in the rapid spread of the fire - a quote from a survivor: -

“I went back inside the house, looked out the window. I started looking down the window – I had to really pull myself out to look down the window, from the 17th floor, and I see the fire blazing, and coming up really fast, because of the cladding – the cladding was really flammable, and it just caught up like a matchstick.”

Similar cladding has been blamed for major fires at high rise buildings in Asia, and has been discovered at buildings in Melbourne, amongst other locations - see here

n.b. some reports state 24 floors and some say 27 floors - it appears that the original plans were for 24, but there have been some addition / alterations since.

[David]

Watching it live on the news in uk now, would expect many fatalities

[Deniz1]

hope to God it doesnt happen here in one of the new tower blocks what with lack of fire engines and water they wouldnt stand a chance.

[smudger7]

I know about this building as I am involved in this type of construction, without jumping to conclusions the facts are:-
1. Rydon Construction were the Contractors responsible for the refurbishment and they undertoook severe Value Engineering options which some may call cost cutting.
2. Facade contractor who installed the work was Harley Curtain Walling who "folded" very soon after completion.
3. The cladding panel is an Aluminium Composite Material which is 2no 0.5mm skins of aluminium bonded to a thermoplastic core, this core can have varying fire rating or none at all.
4. The photographs of the finished work shows vertical projecting features, on the videos these appear to be the major passage of fire up the building so no fire barriers at floor levels which is standard practice present within these could be assumed.
5. The high rise fires in UAE and elsewhere highlighted the same failings allowing fire spread.
6. I have never seen any fire barriers within the cladding cavities in use locally here so the same results would occur.

[rocking]

Looking at buildings here over more than 4 stories I despair. When I first saw these monstrous things going up my first thought was of the fire risk involved. With all those great firemen and engines used in Uk today, someone said their ladders only went up to 11 floors. These buildings thrown up here don't stand a chance, that is only my opinion. God bless them all in West London.

[David]

The news says that firefighters got up to the 12th floor at the height of the fire , so far 6 confirmed dead and 74 being cared for in hospital 120 flats in the building so can assume around 400 residents and given the time of the fire most people would have been at home if not asleep hopefully many were able to escape but expect many more fatalities.

[Keithcaley]

smudger7, thank you for that insight - one of the residents mentioned that the cladding material was fixed to wooden battens, which seemed to me to be a hazard in itself, quite apart from the possibility that the gap would serve as a duct for the passage of fire...

[erol]

Lest we forget

One year on and still half of the survivors are living in temporary accommodation.

[Rosehillgirl]

A complete tragedy-such heart breaking stories from survivors and relatives.

It's a national disgrace that after one whole year some of these people do not have somewhere to call home.

Rosie

[Jonnie]

I disagree, everyone has a roof over their heads probably largely paid for by the tax payer. I am personally sick of the society we are creating in the UK where everyone expects not only hand outs but hand outs on their terms. One of the biggest complaints is that some of the accommodation is not nearby, the fact they have accommodation should be sufficient. Then the next complaint is the building has not been covered and the victims have to look at it.

Yes it is a disaster, yes it is tragic, yes there have been failings before and since. Yes everyone wants answers but there needs to be a complete and thorough investigation first and that should take however long is necessary.

[waddo]

Jonnie, I am on your side with this and the state of the UK as a whole. It seems that if a disaster strikes a single family then it is not in the news and no help is ever given. Your house burnt down? Did you have house insurance will be the first question. Would the country get behind you then - no. Would you get handouts from the Government - doubtful. Even if it was a fire due to the house next door burning down and taking yours with it - the same would apply. You would be left waiting for your insurance payment, if you had any to start with, find your own accommodation, bury your own dead, etc, etc. If you had rented your property and your landlord had no insurance either then you would still be out on your own.

So why is it that Grenfell is suddenly a National disgrace?

[erol]

I am personally sick of the society we are creating in the UK where everyone expects not only hand outs but hand outs on their terms.

I personally lament a society that seems to increasingly promote and value private avarice more than compassion.

Then the next complaint is the building has not been covered and the victims have to look at it.

The building was covered and there is evidence that part of the motivation for it being covered was because the wealthy residents around the tower did not want to have to look at an ugly building from their 3 million pound homes.

[Geoff1131]

I would think the covering of the building was done for practical purposes rather than any cosmetic factors. When rebuilding work starts, there will be a need to strip out materials from the building in order to make repairs and it would be madness not to have covers in place, to stop any debris from falling off and causing even more damage.

[erol]

BBC documentary - Grenfell

"This documentary from Bafta-winning director Ben Anthony brings together multiple stories from the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy - the most devastating tower block fire in British history, and is made over the course of one year, with filming starting on the day after the fire."

For those that can access iPlayer direct it can be found here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b6q36v/grenfell

For those who can not access iPlayer directly and may be interested in watching this documentary it can downloaded from here (or streamed depending on the browser you use) http://visionmatters.co.uk/grenfell.html