Horrendous tower-block fire in W London

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 10:59 AM

Senoufou, I agree about the need for inspections and correction of dangerous conditions.

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 09:29 AM

"Which of course isn't run by the Tenants."
"Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation Limited (KCTMO) is responsible for the management of nearly 10,000 properties on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea."
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 09:19 AM

I was struck by this, in that link Dave gave, from a tenant's action group writing last year:

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/

It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders. We believe that the KCTMO are an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia who have no business to be charged with the responsibility of looking after the every day management of large scale social housing estates and that their sordid collusion with the RBKC Council is a recipe for a future major disaster.

KCTMO - that's the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant's Management Organisation. Which of course isn't run by the Tenants.

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: DaveRo
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 09:06 AM

This_thread has some informed speculation, including on the cladding.

The fire should have been contained on the floor of the outbreak. There have been several cases where 'modernization' has compromised a building's fire-safety, for example by making holes between floors or voids above false ceilings.

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 08:58 AM

Putting combustible cladding on tower-blocks being refurbished is insane and criminal.

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 08:52 AM

A bit premature to talk about causes yet, but one being discussed widely is a possible degign faul which required tenants to stay put in their individual flats rather than trying to escape - no basic escape route
Each individual flat is supposed to be airtight and capable of retaining a fair, but recent installation has interfered with that system
The extent of the fire throughout the whole building is horrific.
I am familiar with the buildings in that area from my working days, I may even have worked in that particular block - Malvina Reanolds' 'Little Boxes' is a perfect description.
It's not far from the area where Lady Porter moved tenants into asbestos infested dwellings in order to sell off their former homes to families who were more likely to vote for her.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 07:27 AM

It's early days yet, but it does seem as if the block was badly equipped for this situation. As in the film, the firefighters could do very little to access the upper floors, since the whole building was thick with smoke and burning fiercely.

The terrible thing is that there are hundreds of these residential tower blocks in large cities, and no doubt several of them are equally badly-designed, dangerous death-traps.

It's often, though not always, the poorer families who inhabit this type of accommodation. The huge business and banking tower blocks in the City of London have apparently been far better constructed and are monitored regularly for fire regulations and so on. One can draw conclusions from that I suppose...

I felt a chill of horror when I saw this News this morning, as just yesterday, we were out at B&Q, where there are two residential tower blocks (practically the only ones in the Norwich area, I'm glad to say - we don't go in for high-rise architecture here in Norfolk) And we remarked how dreadful it would be if there were a fire.

My heart goes out to all caught up in this inferno.

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: Mr Red
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 07:00 AM

Now - didn't they learn this lesson from the Fire of London yet?

Flammable roof/cladding close proximity of dwellings.

Given the design of the building the speed of response from the "disaster decision" makers it is also analogous, except in this case life is infinitely faster these days. Firefighters have an impossible task.

Whoever is responsible for the upkeep of the building should (& will) be charged with neglect, if not manslaughter. Didn't the Dubai Address Hotel & its cladding wake them up?

Subject: RE: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: David Carter (UK)
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 06:48 AM

The newly installed plastic cladding seems to have been a large part of the problem. How many other blocks has this been put on? Yes its a tragedy, six people seem to have died and around 50 injured at the present count.

Subject: Horrendous tower-block fire in W London
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 06:26 AM

The fire started at about 1am and within minutes the entire building (27 storeys I believe) was ablaze. It's now completely burned out and still smoking. No-one knows the number of lives lost, but it's obvious it will be high. It's as if the film Towering Inferno has been made reality.

I have always had concerns about high-rise dwellings. This one apparently had poor fire-protection, no fire-alarms went off, the fire escapes were blocked and the recent modernisation to the exterior consisted of apparently flammable sheets which accelerated the fire alarmingly.
The surviving residents (suffering great shock no doubt) have no possessions left, just their night clothes they stand up in. Many many people have not yet been traced. Some jumped to their death alight from the upper floors.

This is going to turn out to be a tragedy of a huge magnitude.
All residential tower blocks should be inspected after this, and made safer.