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FBU official: tower blocks 'should prevent blaze of this kind'
A Fire Brigades Union (FBU) official has described the Grenfell Tower fire as “shocking”, saying tower blocks “are designed to avoid this sort of thing happening”.
The west London tower block was gripped by a huge blaze in the early hours of this morning, resulting in an as yet unconfirmed number of deaths.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, told the BBC: “It’s shocking that a fire could take hold in this way. Tower blocks are designed to avoid this sort of thing happening.
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“Fire fighters would normally fight a fire like this from the inside… clearly that has not been possible. So the questions arise what has happened in this instance to cause such a horrific incident.”
The fire spread from the second floor to the top floor of the 24-storey building.
Dany Cotton, commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, described the blaze as “unprecedented”.
She added: “At this time I am sad to confirm that we now know that there have been fatalities. I cannot confirm the number at this time and as you will appreciate with a fire of this size, affecting such a large building it would be unhelpful of me to speculate further.
“The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, and clearly we will be here all day and will be providing further updates, working with the police and ambulance service.”
Residents told journalists fire alarms in the building did not go off and they were alerted to the blaze by the sounds of screams and fire engines.
One told Channel 4 news: “The cladding was flammable and it was coming up like a matchstick.”
Earlier this year, Inside Housing revealed all London boroughs were warned over the use of cladding, after a huge blaze in nearby Shepherd’s Court was found to have “likely” spread due to flammable panels attached to side of the building.
In May last year, the council said large-scale works on the building included the installation of insulated exterior cladding.
In a statement, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said: “At present all our focus is on supporting the rescue and relief operation.
“The cause of the fire will be fully investigated and we will keep people informed.”
The tower block is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation on behalf of the council and contains 120 homes. It was built in 1974.
