Towering inferno in London

[chalga]

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4243787.htm

 

Sounds like a re run of this,Australia have the same problem.

[melthebell]

 

It must have been horrific in there as the outside heated up and the inside was starved of oxygen. I've no idea how the firefighters can witness stuff like that and stay sane. They must be made of tough stuff.

i think its going to live with some for the rest of their lives, specially any that are first in to any previously impossible to access floors

[El Cid]

The structural engineer being interviewed on Sky News today was saying it looked like the cladding was acting as an accelerant and this seems to be a view shared by the first responders.

 

I think the outcome would have been very different if the building was left unmolested in it's original state.

 

It has been said that Scotland and Wales have different regulation, implying that regulation is more lax in England.

They seem to have a better Government, up North.

[Pinkman]

I wonder if the fire-retardant nature of the exterior cladding has had the effect of turning the building itself into a chimney allowing the fire to rise from floor to floor?

 

I mean, I don't know what the cladding is and whether it's solid but I'd *guess* there was a gap between the cladding and original brickwork which super-heated air might have travelled up like smoke up a chimney, setting fire to window frames and curtains in the flats of the floors above which then spread to the flats proper.

 

I can't see how a fire starting in one flat managed to spread to the whole building before the fire brigade managed to tackle it. It must have spread at a phenomenal rate.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Pinkman

[JNewton69]

I wonder if the fire-retardant nature of the exterior cladding has had the effect of turning the building itself into a chimney allowing the fire to rise from floor to floor?

 

Someone on Channel 4 news said the same thing earlier.

[*_ash_*]

I wonder if the fire-retardant nature of the exterior cladding has had the effect of turning the building itself into a chimney allowing the fire to rise from floor to floor?

 

A guy on BBC was just on saying about why it hadn't collapsed and what not. He was a breathe of fresh air after reading all the facebook and internet sites already the far-left trying to score points blaming Torys.

 

What's wrong with people?!

 

-

 

After watching for an hour or so on the late news, I'm still surprised that no one has mentioned that these buildings were designed as they were, not to have a jacket put around them in 40 years time. Now more info in and looking at how it spread rather than this morning when it was hazy early news - it's almost certainly the cladding, how else could it spread so fast? It's bound to be cheap materials, that's the modern world, just patching things up on the cheap.

[Crosser]

A guy on BBC was just on saying about why it hadn't collapsed and what not. He was a breathe of fresh air after reading all the facebook and internet sites already the far-left trying to score points blaming Torys.

 

What's wrong with people?!

 

-

 

After watching for an hour or so on the late news, I'm still surprised that no one has mentioned that these buildings were designed as they were, not to have a jacket put around them in 40 years time. Now more info in and looking at how it spread rather than this morning when it was hazy early news - it's almost certainly the cladding, how else could it spread so fast? It's bound to be cheap materials, that's the modern world, just patching things up on the cheap.

 

Maybe they were designed not to have a jacket put around them in 40 years time BUT someone DID, and THAT is their responsibility.

 

Afterall, they didn't burn down in the last 40 years like they did lastnight.

[hackey lad]

didn't take this long to turn into a political debate

 

Yes . saw Jeremy on the news about 2.00 pm , and he was already try to score points . Shameless

[Pinkman]

Someone on Channel 4 news said the same thing earlier.

 

Interesting. Was just a theory. I don't watch C4 news. Did he seem intelligent or a raving lunatic?

[*_ash_*]

I can't see how a fire starting in one flat managed to spread to the whole building before the fire brigade managed to tackle it. It must have spread at a phenomenal rate.

 

Ah you've added to this post, and was what I was asking this morning. What were the timings etc? When I saw the thread and turned on TV it was 10am and the side shot was the place in flames in the dark - which was obviously at the time, just early info.

 

The evening news showed what it looked like after half an hour or so, and it was well up in flames by then. As bad as 100 killed and injured, had this been an hour or so later when most people asleep, it could have been much worse. However, seeing a residential building going up like that, in this country of high H&S was quite unusual.

 

-

 

Of this horrific fire and events today, probably the worst thing for me is the sign saying 'stay in your flat'. This probably is the main concern of everyone living in a tower block now and worried, and should be addressed quickly, when the materials used are identified. I suspect all fire inspectors around the country are busy tonight.

 

I saw (and didn't know fully) that this is so the fire brigade can access the stairway, as well as the building and doors should hold up during a fire. However, my instinct if I saw a fire is get away from it - and luckily it seems, most ignored this instruction.