Huge fire in NEWLY-BUILT block of flats. Is this how the Tory government learned the lessons of Grenfell?
As I type these words, around 100 firefighters are battling a blaze in a tower block on De Pass Gardens, Barking, in London.
The cause is not known. There are no known injuries, and evacuation procedures are in place.
But there is no avoiding the obvious question: Why has this happened after the Tory government promised to learn the lessons of Grenfell?
Look at the strength of this fire, as shown in the following footage:
The speed in which this fire in #barking spread was crazy! Nothing learned from #Grenfell #barkingfire pic.twitter.com/5mdceE4pAS
— MARAJA (@MARAJA_7) June 9, 2019
— Venilia Batista Amorim (@vbatistaamorim) June 9, 2019
And did you read the comment about the cladding? Builders had been challenge about it only weeks ago, and said it was “fire retardant and perfectly safe”.
Does it look safe to you?
For g's sake, don't let it be the same stupidity as at #GrenfellTower, on a NEW building!
What #cladding did they use?!#Barking #BarkingFire— Pluk van de Petteflet ❌ (@PlukPet) June 9, 2019
Sadly, it seems to be exactly the same stupidity as at Grenfell.
The fire in Barking shows once again that government building regulations are not fit for purpose. This puts both residents and the fire services’ lives at risk. I hope everyone is okay 🙏
— Nick West (@NicholasWest27) June 9, 2019
I’m sure you and I will look forward to the mealy-mouthed excuses that will flow from the same sources we heard after Grenfell. I hope there will be much less tolerance for them this time.
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Let’s not jump to conclusions and start apportioning blame fire happen everyday all over the place, a wait and see position would be more appropriate.
Fires do yes but ,one don’t get to see these sort of fires in block towers tho . . .
Hope no one was hurt . .
and thanks to the fire/emergency services.
its not blame that needs sorting out here, it’s the materials used that fueled such a quick burning and fierce fire that people need to be aware of. Building inspection is now mostly done by industry self certification.
You are right, fires happen all the time, thats not in question, and fortunately this was a much smaller building, and fortunately nobody has been seriously hurt… which given the lack of smoke alarms (widely acknowledged at this point) is pretty incredible in itself. Its like watching a tinder box go up.
The residents were apparently assured that the wood cladding was safe. From the pictures the evidence suggest that it wasn’t. Note: Public Enquiries are useless, these things need a judicial review. For the former read cover up
Bellway seem to have been careless in reassuring everybody that the wooden cladding was flameproof. I doubt if any wooden cladding exposed to the elements would remain flame proof indefinitely. Not a great idea, though, to light a barbecue in such an environment.