Tower block fire - london

Abraxaz1 · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:19

Ayahuasca said:
Friend of mine just told me the company he works for deal with the council in that area on a regular basis and they've had word the wiring in the building was so poor there were surges everyday, not electrically savvy at all so is that normal?

Surges are nothing to do with the wiring. Black outs and trips would be wiring. A surge would be from the supplier so probably a old transformer on it's Last legs. But these are normally submerged in oil so no air can get at the coils to cause sparks.
Plus the wiring will be just as good as when it was installed the only major difference between the refs then and now is the preferred type of earthing systems, protection systems and placement of components.
Oh and colours.

Doesn't look like a gas fire they go up with a big bang first.

Probably a old electrical appliance overheated and caught fire and then set everything else on fire expect a interesting hse report.

Semple · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:22

Bit late to the story... Have they got any clues as to what may have started it?

McBain · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:23

Absolutely horrendous

snips86x · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:25

Semple said:
Bit late to the story... Have they got any clues as to what may have started it?

Nothing staple, just assumptions

d_brennen · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:27

Semple said:
Bit late to the story... Have they got any clues as to what may have started it?

Read somewhere it may have been a fridge that caused it. At this stage. it's pretty irrelevant what started it though, some serious questions to be answered as to how is spread so quickly in basically a concrete building

MooMoo444 · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:34

lol, just read that someone caught a baby being dropped from the 9th or 10th floor. I cannot imagine the pressure on the man who was making that catch.

Craig1981 · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:37

Six confirmed dead so far, but police say the figure is likely to rise.

Truly horrific events. Hope the death toll doesn't climb much higher

HazardO · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:37

Semple said:
Bit late to the story... Have they got any clues as to what may have started it?

That's not really the issue, fires start in residential homes all the time, the question everyone wants to know is how on earth it spread so quickly in a concrete building designed to stop the spread of fire.

Cosimo · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:40

Such a shocking and tragic event. At this point in time it's hard to say much more except RIP to the the people who have lost their lives.

Screeeech · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:41

MooMoo444 said:
lol, just read that someone caught a baby being dropped from the 9th or 10th floor. I cannot imagine the pressure on the man who was making that catch.

Yeah I read that, the guy should get some sort of official award/recognition for that - in exactly what form I'm not sure, but he should certainly be highly rewarded,

C.R.A.Z.Y · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:41

It's looking more & more like it was the cladding's fault the fire spread so furiously.
If it does turn out to be the buildings new cladding that cause the spread then I think it's time for new regulations that dictate that ONLY materials that can pass the toughest fire resistance / proof tests are legally allowed.

smokedog · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:44

Grim, no one can survivor that. The building has been burnt to a crisp, the temperatures would have been immense.

RIP to those who lost their lives

Shoza · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:45

C.R.A.Z.Y said:
It's looking more & more like it was the cladding's fault the fire spread so furiously.
If it does turn out to be the buildings new cladding that cause the spread then I think it's time for new regulations that dictate that ONLY materials that can pass the toughest fire resistance / proof tests are legally allowed.

Building Regulations already require this in part so I suspect Rydon and the Council's Building Control team are to blame..

adolf hamster · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:47

smokedog said:
Grim, no one can survivor that. The building has been burnt to a crisp, the temperatures would have been immense.

RIP to those who lost their lives

whats incredible as that some people did survive that, a testament to the basic fabric of the building that it can take that kind of punishment and still keep some people alive.

wesley · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:47

maybe the cladding supplier false claimed the material is fire safe

nutcase · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:48

muon said:
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.

I strongly suspect it will be found that the fire protection was woefully inadquate, the way the fire spread should not happen. there's going to be a lot for those responsible for th eblock and its refurb to answer to I suspect. Horrible tragedy that should never have happened.

LOAM · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:50

DavidMarq said:
I deal with CDM as a manager on large construction projects.

What you have to keep in mind with the CDM regs is that they were designed with the view to allow for successful procecutions of those higher up the food chain. The scope is almost without limit if you can be shown to have the blame token. Also as they are prosecuted by the HSE in many cases it is on the basis that you are guilty unless proven innocent. "Foreseeable risk" for example is such a catch all that defending against it could be very difficult.

I am very weary of the power of CDM.

I think that's quite a cynical interpretation of CDM, its there to enure that risk is mitigated during the construction process and to ensure that people working within the industry are diligent during those stages. Its probably not for this thread though and we don't even what went wrong or when.

Zatoichi.uK · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:58

From one of external shots of the tower you can pretty much see the path the fire took. It certainly looks like the cladding from a laypersons perspective.

ZG002 · 14 Jun 2017 at 13:59

Fire alarm system seems to have not functioned, Smoke running through the building internally.

I'm a electrician who works for a company who own over 15 of these type of buildings.

I'm actually shocked reading and hearing of different failures of different systems, some of the faults recorded by residents previously that don't seem to of been addressed are staggering.

Cern · 14 Jun 2017 at 14:03

This is a devastating tragedy that probably didn't need to happen. Watching it unfold it was clear the flames were spreading rapidly up the outside of the building. Which points to the cladding. Since the building was recently refurbished and the cladding was part of that, some deeply serious questions will need to be asked. Also it seems that residents repeatedly highlighted a range of fire safety issues in the block and most of these were never addressed.

There's a lot of wider issues that badly need to be addressed regarding fire regulations, slum landlord culture, local authority cuts and so on. But right now efforts and thoughts should be with those affected by this horror.