Huge Fire In Block Of Flats

[Boydie88]

SkrrSkrr said:

TheGuru said:

In it's original state the fire probably wouldn't have spread and that would be safe advice. But being renovated and having cladding allows the fire to spread like this.

Still better to leave, Whats the point in waiting till it's to late to do something

If I hear the alarm go in my block i'm out of here, i'd rather be safe than sorry

No fire alarms went off from what I've heard.

[kprm77]

One of the witnesses interviewed on Sky News said she was watching the fire from outside at 0020. Not sure if it's just shock and she's got the time wrong, but the first call to the Fire Brigade wasn't until 0054.

Hope the fatalities are as low as possible. Absolutely horrendous thing to happen. The fact this has happened in London is obscene - there should be definite long prison stretches for anyone and all accountable.


[ETA - the bloke with the fridge was apparently outside filming the fire on his phone. I hope he called the FB first!]

[Puggit]

Oceanic said:

One witness on TV just said he had seen "40 or 50 people die in front of him" :-(

Even if we get one fatality it will be sad, but this looks utterly grim! :-(

I'd expect different language from the emergency services if the death toll was this high. Just from listening to their words I would not expect more than 10-15 deaths.

[Vocal Minority]

I think the eyewitness quote is based on the fact he watched the fire and assumed the number of deaths he thought there would be.

A bit dramatic and possibly not helpful. But its a frightening time I suppose!

[Vaud]

Just a random and (far to early a) thought:



There is whopping great transformer on the ground floor. Possible source?

(I know there will be a full investigation, I know I am aimlessly speculating, I'm just throwing it out there as an idea)

[Vaud]

kprm77 said:

The fact this has happened in London is obscene - there should be definite long prison stretches for anyone and all accountable.

What's London got to do with it?? It shouldn't happen anywhere in a developed society!

[Boydie88]

Puggit said:

I'd expect different language from the emergency services if the death toll was this high. Just from listening to their words I would not expect more than 10-15 deaths.

What language do you mean? I doubt fire brigade have made it to every room. It seems impossible that people at the top will have made it out of this. I hope you're right but I don't see how it won't be at least 5 times that.

I despise the way BBC interview witnesses... it's like the BBCs agenda is solely to draw tears.

[Boydie88]

Vaud said:

Just a random and (far to early a) thought:



There is whopping great transformer on the ground floor. Possible source?

(I know there will be a full investigation, I know I am aimlessly speculating, I'm just throwing it out there as an idea)

One witness is saying a neighbour on his floor said it was his fridge that had "exploded".

[kprm77]

Vaud said:

What's London got to do with it?? It shouldn't happen anywhere in a developed society!

That is exactly what I was trying to get at. When I first saw the reports I thought it was in the Third World somewhere...

[Vaud]

kprm77 said:

That is exactly what I was trying to get at. When I first saw the reports I thought it was in the Third World somewhere...

Ah, fair enough... I misinterpreted as "London should be better than the rest of the UK" - my apologies...

[stitched]

I am currently living in Stroud, a bit off the beaten track TBH and have a spare room on offer.
Nuff said

[Alucidnation]

Smiler. said:

Alucidnation said:

Smiler. said:

I was only reading last week of a hotelier who was jailed for not having the requisite escape lighting system in one of his buildings.

Interesting.

Do you have a link?

http://luxreview.com/article/2017/06/hotelier-jail...

I think the main reason for being jailed was the lack of adequate fire safety systems rather than no emergency lighting.

That article is published on lighting manufacturers website, so the headline is a little misleading.

[Eric Mc]

I think anybody who has witnessed this first hand will struggle to hold back tears today.

In my view, the BBC interviews have been fairly restrained. Sky reporting seems to have been bordering on crass - to say the least (based on what some PHers have said).

[Puggit]

Boydie88 said:

What language do you mean? I doubt fire brigade have made it to every room. It seems impossible that people at the top will have made it out of this. I hope you're right but I don't see how it won't be at least 5 times that.

I despise the way BBC interview witnesses... it's like the BBCs agenda is solely to draw tears.

Emergency services tend to use language that prepares you for the scale of number of deaths. If there were 40-50 bodies littering the land around the base of the building then these deaths would be known about and hence they could temper their language suitably.

They normally use phrases like 'prepare for large numbers of casualties' if they know about them.

[Justin S]

One of my engineers lives yards away and has painted a harrowing night. He is unable to get out of the street due to fire appliances everywhere. Understandably he is in total shock. He has witnessed the people jumping out the flats and dying rather than being burnt to death. He also saw people with phone torches in the night, but they have now gone. He said he has never seen anything like it. there were bodies everywhere. I also have a client who lives in those flats, which my engineer reminded me. I cant believe in this day and age that the risk of life in flats is obviously an issue which hasn't been resolved.
Just looked up the client and he lives in flat 105................

Edited by Justin S on Wednesday 14th June 09:55

[Stickyfinger]

Eric Mc said:

Mr GrimNasty said:

Chap interviewed by BBC before he broke down says fire started on his floor (4th) and his neighbour later said his fridge had exploded (Beko issue?), also said there were (or they were installing?) large gas pipes in the stairwell?

This has the potential to be one of the worst peacetime tragedies in the UK I fear, some of the witness stories are horrendous.

Please no bickering on PH today. Just prayers.

Absolutely.

This is going to be a national tragedy.

100 % agree

[Vaud]

Puggit said:

Emergency services tend to use language that prepares you for the scale of number of deaths. If there were 40-50 bodies littering the land around the base of the building then these deaths would be known about and hence they could temper their language suitably.

They normally use phrases like 'prepare for large numbers of casualties' if they know about them.

"Cotton can’t give any details on the number of victims. She says fire crews are making steady progress up the building. She says they have reached the 21st floor."

They haven't yet made it through the whole building. This is going to be truly awful.

[yellowjack]

Adz The Rat said:

ambuletz said:

One of the eyewitnesses right now on BBC news (who lives on the 4th floor) said that his neighbours fridge exploded and caused the fire.

Do fridges explode? Ive never heard of one doing that.

Horrible news to see this morning, those images on the first page look like something from a movie.

It must have been extremely difficult for those living high up to get out, it won't have been pretty inside and when full of smoke it must be near impossible to navigate.

Won't be the whole fridge - but the refrigerant compressor on the back could go 'pop'. Pump and compressor issues on a fridge would probably go down as "caused by an electrical fault" on a run-of-the-mill domestic non-injury fire. So you don't hear of it too much. But when the consequences are as staggering and grim as this incident, everything is discussed more openly in the media. Imagine if it were a three-bed semi, and everyone got out. It would warrant no more than a column inch or two deep inside a local paper. The exact same cause, but resulting in a blaze of this magnitude and the BBC are presenting it as the ONLY newsworthy item in the entire world this morning.

[Boydie88]

Puggit said:

Boydie88 said:

What language do you mean? I doubt fire brigade have made it to every room. It seems impossible that people at the top will have made it out of this. I hope you're right but I don't see how it won't be at least 5 times that.

I despise the way BBC interview witnesses... it's like the BBCs agenda is solely to draw tears.

Emergency services tend to use language that prepares you for the scale of number of deaths. If there were 40-50 bodies littering the land around the base of the building then these deaths would be known about and hence they could temper their language suitably.

They normally use phrases like 'prepare for large numbers of casualties' if they know about them.

One agency saying the fire brigade managed to clear the first 12 floors before before being over powered. Every question regarding numbers (horrid way to put it journalists!), is brushed aside for now.

[p1stonhead]

Really hope most didnt follow this advice....