🚨 20 fire engines on the scene of a fire at New Providence Wharf in East London this morning.
The building’s still covered in ACM cladding - the same type as was on Grenfell. Awaiting updates. @LBC
Back in January the East London Advertiser wrote about the fight to remove the flammable cladding from this building - even though funding had been made available years ago. eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/housing/u…
Latest from @LondonFire.
Called at 8.55, 20 fire engines and around 125 firefighters are there. Parts of the 8th, 9th and 10th floors are alight.
The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.
Thankfully witnesses tell me it looks under control. Pic @IAmAndyPearce
Message from a resident: "No alarm went off for over 30 minutes post the fire. Woke up to the smell of smoke in the flat."
Do send me a DM if you live there/ are in the area.
Apparently, work to remove the cladding was due to start THIS week, and finish in March 2022.
LATEST: I've been told the fire started in a flat's fuse box, and one man is in hospital with burns - but thankfully he's expected to recover. @LBC
London Ambulance Service say they’ve treated “a number of people.” @LBC
Well while I’ve got you here, let’s talk about the Government’s own deadline to remove all of this cladding from all residential buildings. It was June 2020. It was very much missed google.co.uk/amp/s/m.huffin…
Thankfully, the New Providence Wharf fire is all out and under control. Looks like the flat where the fire started has been destroyed - windows and balcony doors blown out. Damage goes a few floors up. This could have been so much worse. @LBC
More about New Providence Wharf. @JSimpsonjourno wrote about this block two whole years ago
Statement from @MattWrack from the FBU, he says the “pace of removing flammable cladding has been glacial, and its putting people’s lives at risk.”
And a statement from @SadiqKhan - who says the “spectre of the tragedy at Grenfell still hangs over our city.”
We’ve also just had a statement through from @GrenfellUnited - they have warned from the start “another tragedy is waiting to happen.”
There’s a sense from witnesses here that the fire-spread really occurred up the wooden balconies (which now don’t meet regulations and also need replacing) rather than along the cladding. That doesn’t negate the ACM risk of course, but maybe explains why this wasn’t worse.
Latest from @LondonFire, Deputy Commissioner Richard Mills says:
- 35 residents evacuated, 22 using smoke hoods.
- 2 members of the public were hospitalised, and a firefighter was injured.
- Inquiry ongoing, they’re working with building owners to get residents home asap.
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