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Massive Fire in High Rise Apartment in London

Septic360

Banned
This has happened near work to me. Pretty crazy.

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If you've ever visited council flats you would know the general shittiness that is allowed to go on, but I thought at least the fire systems are robust enough to deal with this stuff because of how strict our fire regulations are.

I work for a company that has a maintenance contract with a London borough.

it is not uncommon for fire systems to be separated between individual flats and the communal hallway areas.

In this case the fourth floor flat alarm would have gone off, but the alarm monitoring the hallways would have been silent until the fire was strong enough to seep smoke into the hallway. Basically only the alarm in that one flat would be going off for a while. Given that Time was such a factor in this fire, it's going to be something that is looked at.

It's also not uncommon for idiot maintenance workers to attend site to do mandatory checks of fire equipment like detectors etc, but just walk in, sign a sheet to say everything is fine and walk straight out. Since residents were saying they couldn't hear any alarms going off, I'm wondering if the communal alarms had faults or something.
 

Aranath

Member
This is going to be a hell of a wake-up call and deservedly so. Safety regulations are there for a damn reason. How anyone can consciously say, "You know what? Fuck it." when it comes to something as critical as fire safety is beyond my understanding.

I can't even begin to imagine what the victims and families have been through.

Utterly tasteless joke

...really?
 

Newline

Member
I'm so sad for those affected by this, it's such a horrible thing to have to be affected by. This sort of thing should never happen in our country. I'm overwhelmed.
 
There was a 2009 incident where 6 people where killed in similar circumstances and no compensation, no prosecutions, just same soundbites "lessons will be learned", "serious failures" from an inquest that finished years later in 2013. Jean Charles de Menezes and Stephen Lawrence case come to mind when I hear those soundbites.
It said the council had had "numerous opportunities" to ensure that Lakanal House met fire safety standards but failed to do so.

I hope something comes out of it other than just some ceremony 3 years later after an "inquest into the fire" with an official reading out a script with the same keywords. I do expect them to remove fire hazards from existing buildings though.
 
Sorry if someone has pointed this out already

I'm following some (very good) journos on twitter and one of them posted some refurbishment info from a contractor and they're already taking stuff off their website.
https://twitter.com/dawnhfoster/status/874890430948810754

So they were in charge of both the cladding people are saying turned the building into an inferno, and the new gas heating system residents have noted may have been part of spreading the fire.
 
this is fucking horrible :(....

My thoughts go out to anyone affected, my gods... :(.

I am at least heartened to see the community once again pull together so well to help everyone during such a horrific event.
 

Lach

Member
That interview on BBC news is heartbreaking.

Young man telling how his mom and infant sister were trapped in 11th floor until around 6am. They survived 5 hours in that inferno. Absolutely incredible considering those images I've seen from the middle of the night....
 
That interview on BBC news is heartbreaking.

Young man telling how his mom and infant sister were trapped in 11th floor until around 6am. They survived 5 hours in that inferno. Absolutely incredible considering those images I've seen from the middle of the night....

The bit where his mother apparently tried to tell him 'I'm fine', on the phone, panic in her voice, got to me. Because even while trapped in the closest thing to hell on Earth, she was trying to keep her son calm.
 

ExitPotato

Neo Member
The content appears to be the same......doesn't seem to be taken down.

One of the replies to the tweet says the page was put back up after being taken down, presumably because it looks suspicious as fuck to try and hide that you were responsible for the renovations.
 
Young lad on BBC news just went off on one saying the authorities effectively wanted this to happen so they can knock down the flats of poorer people to regenerate for the rich!

A good friend of mine lives in Notting hill, he hasn't come to work today he's headed to the area to help however he can, love reactions like that.

I know the need for housing in London is dire I can't even imagine how they will begin to look at housing these people.

Just pray the death toll isn't as bad as it could be
 

GHG

Member
Young lad on BBC news just went off on one saying the authorities effectively wanted this to happen so they can knock down the flats of poorer people to regenerate for the rich!

A good friend of mine lives in Notting hill, he hasn't come to work today he's headed to the area to help however he can, love reactions like that.

I know the need for housing in London is dire I can't even imagine how they will begin to look at housing these people.

Just pray the death toll isn't as bad as it could be

I hate it when people use tragedies like these to jump on their soapbox.

I get that emotions are running high, especially if you've been directly caught up in it, but come on now.
 

RangerX

Banned
Just watching on sky news and the whole building looks completely gutted. It will be very difficult to retrieve any victims as the building might collapse. My thoughts are with them and their families.
 

Slayer-33

Liverpool-2
Just imagining all the people desperate and helpless, burning alive with the damn floors beneath them crumbling omfg. I am heartbroken thinking about it..

Poor women and children and the men / elderly, ffs.

I'm at work and just want to cry man. This is horrible
 

Moobabe

Member
Just spend a couple of minutes crying.

This building is about a 2 minute walk from my offices.

I got to work this morning and... I have never seen anything like this in my life, it is absolutely harrowing.

I've just got back home after the police closed the area but I feel awful, I just have an unshakeable feeling that I should have stayed to help in some way (even if there's nothing I can do).

I turned the TV on but the images barely do it justice - you can smell it, and taste it, from a mile away.
 

GHG

Member
Firemen are inside the building now searching floor by floor but there are fears the building could become more unstable.

From the Sky news live feed.
 

Machina

Banned
Firemen are inside the building now searching floor by floor but there are fears the building could become more unstable.

From the Sky news live feed.

I don't mean this to sound callous but you have to wonder what the point in risking their lives is now. Anyone who was still in there are inevitably dead, and the bodies are probably incinerated by now. If there's a significant risk of the building collapsing, keep them out
 
Probably been mentioned already, but the BBC New Special just had an eyewitness report of a woman who threw her baby from the 9th or 10th floor down to the crowd below to save it. A man was able to catch it, but...jesus. I can't even, and don't want to, imagine it. I'm dreading the evening report's figures.
 

Steel

Banned
I don't mean this to sound callous but you have to wonder what the point in risking their lives is now. Anyone who was still in there are inevitably dead, and the bodies are probably incinerated by now. If there's a significant risk of the building collapsing, keep them out

There are a few places on the bottom half of the building that don't seem as badly burned. That being said, it's hard to believe they survived the smoke.
 

Par Score

Member
This is incredibly fucked up. My condolences to the victims and best wishes to the injured and any relatives or friends of those involved.

If some of the early reports are true, of smoke alarms not going off, of official advice in the event of a fire being incredibly dangerous, of reports of fire risks being ignored, of fire safety and prevention measures not being implemented, then people need to go to jail over this. A lot of people.
 

GHG

Member
I don't mean this to sound callous but you have to wonder what the point in risking their lives is now. Anyone who was still in there are inevitably dead, and the bodies are probably incinerated by now. If there's a significant risk of the building collapsing, keep them out

If you were a fireman, you would go just on the off chance. There look to be a few flats that are still relatively untouched by the fire on one side. You never know, people have survived in the strangest of circumstances before, especially infants.
 

Steel

Banned
I wonder what's the possibility that some people made it to the roof. I wonder how bad the fire was up there. The smoke would've been awful, but maybe...
 

sirap

Member
Jamie Oliver just posted this on instagram. If you guys know anyone affected by this fire and is in need of food and water please let them know.

Jamie Oliver said:
GUYS ANY OF THE 100 plus FAMILIES
effected by this terrible fire at Grenfell Tower Notting hill
today are welcome to come hang out in my restaurant
and be Feed and watered by my Team at jamies italian in
Westfield were just round the corner.. It's all Free of
charge guys so just go and speak to my manager Juan
and we will sort you out and give you some love.... This is
for victims of the fire guys... our thoughts are with
any of the family's of the deceased big love jamie X X X X
 

GHG

Member
The water pumps around the building that are supposed to supply the fire brigade with water in events like this weren't working either apparently according to an eye witness on sky. He had to help the fire brigade go up to the next road to the nearest water point run the hoses back down to the building.

Absolutely tragic sequence of events. The building was doomed from the moment the fire broke out it seems.
 

PizzaFace

Banned
There are a few places on the bottom half of the building that don't seem as badly burned. That being said, it's hard to believe they survived the smoke.

For what it's worth, a witness on BBC news said before his Mum and 5yr old sister were on the 11th floor and escaped after 5 hours as they were on the opposite side of where the fire started.

But they were obviously extremely lucky.
 
Just spend a couple of minutes crying.

This building is about a 2 minute walk from my offices.

I got to work this morning and... I have never seen anything like this in my life, it is absolutely harrowing.

I've just got back home after the police closed the area but I feel awful, I just have an unshakeable feeling that I should have stayed to help in some way (even if there's nothing I can do).

I turned the TV on but the images barely do it justice - you can smell it, and taste it, from a mile away.

Don't put that on yourself man, it looks like the community is coming together well to help out. Can't be there for everything. If it's eating at you just throw some cash when a fund is set up.
 

Dead Man

Member
Probably been mentioned already, but the BBC New Special just had an eyewitness report of a woman who threw her baby from the 9th or 10th floor down to the crowd below to save it. A man was able to catch it, but...jesus. I can't even, and don't want to, imagine it. I'm dreading the evening report's figures.
Jesus, having to make that decision would be horrific.
 

GHG

Member
If only there were any warnings or a sign that something tragic could happen >:-(

- Fire alarms not working
- Highly flammable cladding and poor building management
- Instructions to tell people to stay put
- Water points for the fire brigade that surround building inoperable.

I mean... What the fuck. Everybody involved in this needs to go down for it in a big way. The last one takes the cake. It sounds like the firemen got there really quickly but were delayed in being able to get the fire under control because of having to run up to the next road to run their hoses back to the building. It's a fucking joke.
 

Munter

Member
This is absolutely horrifying. I have no idea how that building is still standing. RIP to those lost, my heart goes out to their families and those in hospital.
 
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