Tower block fire - london

Efour · 14 Jun 2017 at 05:41

Ouch. RIP to those trapped.

Uther · 14 Jun 2017 at 05:42

That is horrific

bjorkiii · 14 Jun 2017 at 05:49

Its seems very disturbing a whole building can become engulfed like that. Extremely shocking how fast the fires spread.

muon · 14 Jun 2017 at 05:54

Tenant (on BBC) now saying there was no fire alarm. Woke up by a neighbour. Was on 7th floor.

Firefighters were going up higher (2am). Hopefully they did manage to get loads of people out

Malevolence · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:20

arknor said:
explosions? do tower blocks even have gas? I thought it wasn't allowed

It doesn't have to be gas, many things can explode due to intense heat. You ever seen a can of lighter fluid or a can of hairspray dropped in a fire? This place had something like 200 flats, now imagine what is stored in all those kitchens and bathrooms.

Hades · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:29

muon · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:30

Reports that fire service originally told people to stay in their flats. Apparently that is standard policy for fires in high rise blocks.

They changed their mind once they saw how severe the fire was and was telling people to come down if they could.

It may turn out the fire was underestimated.

Tefal · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:35

is this going to be like the dubai building and trhe builders skimed on the cladding which let the flames spready around ther whole building>?

MooMoo444 · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:36

I hate tower blocks for this exact reason, if there's a fire you're a goner. Nothing you can do but wait for the inevitable

muon · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:37

Tefal said:
is this going to be like the dubai building and trhe builders skimed on the cladding which let the flames spready around ther whole building>?

It is a theory that is flying around. However, images are misleading as fires will always look like they are climbing up the outside of the building.

At least new dubai buildings will have multiple evacuation paths and some automatic firefighting equipment. These old council blocks have neither.

cheesyboy · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:39

This is horrible.

Had no idea tower block could burn like that. What's actually burning? Isn't the structure concrete?

deuse · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:41

I hope there are no deaths.

Tefal · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:42

muon said:
It is a theory that is flying around. However, images are misleading as fires will always look like they are climbing up the outside of the building.

At least new dubai buildings will have multiple evacuation paths and some automatic firefighting equipment. These old council blocks have neither.

sprinklers surely?

MooMoo444 said:
I hate tower blocks for this exact reason, if there's a fire you're a goner. Nothing you can do but wait for the inevitable

or walk down the staircases, which will be mostly clear of smoke due to fire doors, and full of thousand of gallons of minute of water pouring down them from sprinklers, as well as having little to nothing flammable in them?

muon · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:44

Tefal said:
sprinklers surely?

I've been inside blocks like that. No sprinklers in most places and not in flats.

Tefal said:
or walk down the staircases, which will be mostly clear of smoke due to fire doors, and full of thousand of gallons of minute of water pouring down them from sprinklers, as well as having little to nothing flammable in them?

Unfortunately they won't be clear of smoke. You don't get automatic ventilation like in modern buildings. People are reporting that stairwell was full of black smoke from 2nd floor onwards.

Tefal · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:46

muon said:
I've been inside blocks like that. No sprinklers.

Unfortunately they won't be clear of smoke. You don't get automatic ventilation like in modern buildings. People are reporting that stairwell was full of black smoke from 2nd floor onwards.

damn, guess im a little too used to modern buildings then. (wales is wanting new build houses to have sprinklers now even)

surprised they haven't been torn down in that case.

Sankari · 14 Jun 2017 at 06:54

cheesyboy said:
This is horrible.

Had no idea tower block could burn like that. What's actually burning? Isn't the structure concrete?

Domestic residences are crammed with highly flammable materials, most of them oil based.

Cleisthenes · 14 Jun 2017 at 07:00

Very sad to see this this morning. I hope that nothing malicious was the cause

inferno · 14 Jun 2017 at 07:04

No reports on the amount deaths, this is going to be horrific, a national tragedy.

Malevolence · 14 Jun 2017 at 07:13

Even before 9/11 happened I always said that if I lived or worked in one of these tall buildings then my first purchase would be a bloody parachute or, if it was only something like 15 stories, 100yards of abseiling rope and a good pair of gloves. I'd rather take my chances outside than to suffocate and burn to death.

antijoke · 14 Jun 2017 at 07:14

Horrific.

BBC saying around 30 people in hospital, that leaves a lot of people unaccounted for from the number of apartments and how many people they said live per flat.