Huge Fire Engulfs Tower Block in London...

[747man]

Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London, Britain on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)
LONDON - A huge fire engulfed a 27-storey block of flats in central London on Wednesday injuring a number of people.

Massive flames licked up the sides of the block as 200 firefighters battled the blaze along with 40 fire engines. Flumes of black smoke billowed into the air.

London Fire Brigade said the fire had engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in west London.

Some people were trapped in the fire, with residents desperately shouting for help from windows on upper floors as the fire spread, some British media reported. Reuters could confirm those reports.

"A number of people being treated for a range of injuries," police said. "Residents continue to be evacuated from the tower block fire."

The cause of the fire, which broke out just after 0000 GMT, is not known at this stage, the Fire Brigade said.

[747man]

[747man]

[747man]

No Word on Fatalities or Injuries at the moment,But reports of MANY People with Burns to their bodies, Tower Block Completely Destroyed & Will have to be demolished.....20 Ambulances on scene...

[747man]

Latest on #Londonfire:
- Several injured
- 40 fire engines, 200 firefighters dispatched
- Evacuation continues

[747man]

Fire STILL Burning 7 Hours after starting !!

[747man]

[747man]

Just been CONFIRMED ON @LBC There has been a Number of Fatalities but NO Figure given...At least 30 Hospitalised !!

[Nigglyb]

08:28 UK Time

24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London destroyed by fire
Fire service confirms fatalities but has not provided figures
Blaze broke out around 1am
Council leader says 'hundreds' would have been inside
30 people taken to hospital
Witnesses have described people throwing themselves out of the building

[BobHelm]

London fire: Twelve dead in Grenfell Tower blaze

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40280169

The building underwent an £8.6m refurbishment last year, including using cladding on the building.
There is a great deal of internet 'chatter' about the suitability & danger of the material used - in some conversations claimed to be sourced in China.
Given the pictures posted above compared to the photo after the fire, there would seem to be some truth in the cladding being responsible for the fierce flames..

fire.png (169.29 KiB) Viewed 2153 times

[magpie73]

listening to the news these people have been treated with utter contempt from the landlords local council and government 8 million on a refurbishment which didn't include a sprinkler system which would of saved many more lives surely this safety system is a must for high rise buildings rip those that have lost there lives

[wazza]

Corporate Manslaughter rings a bell here

[Nigglyb]

Theres a Thai lady that lived there who's been interviewed by Coconuts. She says when she called 999 the operator told her to stay in her flat Luckily she didn't & managed to get out

[wazza]

been reading some tragic stories on this incident

Seems like heaps of Muslim kids awake for the Ramadan evening festivities played a part in spreading the alarm / alerting residents

Good on them

[BobHelm]

She says when she called 999 the operator told her to stay in her flat Luckily she didn't & managed to get out

That was the 'official' safety advice given to all residents of the building.
I gather that each flat is suppose to be a fire isolated entity. It is suppose to be possible for fire to completely destroy a single flat & it have no effect on even the neighbouring flats.. Unfortunately it appears that, in this case, no thought was given to the possibility that inflammable cladding would turn the entire building into an inferno..

[wazza]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-15/l ... ox/8622470

Similar issues with cladding in NSW, Australia.

[BobHelm]

79 people have died in this tragedy.
It now appears that this all happened as a result of a faulty Hoover fridge/freezer catching fire.

Grenfell Tower: Fire started in Hotpoint fridge-freezer, say police

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40380584

Meanwhile it seems that this was an accident waiting to happen just about anywhere.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said 14 residential high-rise buildings in nine local authority areas have now been found with cladding that raises safety concerns.

I know that it is all too easy to be wise after the event, but it does seem to be especially reckless to attach something that is likely to burn to the outside of a concrete building that is highly unlikely to if left alone...

[wazza]

I read today , that there is now an amnesty on illegal immigrants who might have been occupying some units.

Australia has being conducting audits on these aluminum cladding structures and its not good so far.....

Perhaps this is the Construction Industry's Piper Alpha / Deep Water Horizon ??

[Marcosteffano]

I read Kensington coucil have awarded each house holder £999,800 and are being rehoused in £1,800,000 apartments nearby.then they've got the go fund me and other donations,plus the government throwing in £5 million.i know there was great loss of life and many badly injure.i just can't understand why.didnt any of them have house and fire insurance.they won't need a penny for medical care as that's all free.when I lived in the uk if my house had burned down the neighbour might of gave me a few belonging but that would of been it.i used celotex insulation when I was a builder in the uk and as far as I'm aware it has a zero combustible rating.it might be the exterior part that was flammable and as it burned melted the upvc windows that then allowed the fire to enter each apartment.i can't believe these panels were given the ok considering the strict building regulations they have in force nowdays.

[747man]

I read Kensington coucil have awarded each house holder £999,800 and are being rehoused in £1,800,000 apartments nearby.then they've got the go fund me and other donations,plus the government throwing in £5 million.i know there was great loss of life and many badly injure.i just can't understand why.didnt any of them have house and fire insurance.they won't need a penny for medical care as that's all free.when I lived in the uk if my house had burned down the neighbour might of gave me a few belonging but that would of been it.i used celotex insulation when I was a builder in the uk and as far as I'm aware it has a zero combustible rating.it might be the exterior part that was flammable and as it burned melted the upvc windows that then allowed the fire to enter each apartment.i can't believe these panels were given the ok considering the strict building regulations they have in force nowdays.

I THINK You added an extra 9 to that figure Marco......