27 storey block of flats on fire in London.

[DoctorTwo]

BBC link. Holy shit, almost the entire building is ablaze. Hope everybody got out safely.

Cavemum, there are council appointments to the Board which manages the building, including two councillors. They are linked.

How ca this be happening in 2017, with modern fire detection and firefighting systems? It's just been refurbished. It beggars belief.

Audacity, tatty does not mean tasteless. I think you are reading it as tacky.

This is horrendous. Those poor poor people. Hundreds must have died. .

Neurogena that's a horrible stereotype. I have many friends who live in flats in London. Housing costs a huge amount in London, people from all walks of life live in flats.

There is no way that 'cheap and tatty' furniture contributed to this fire. It has to be something structural and common throughout the entire property for a fire to get hold and rip through a building like this - like substandard cladding.

Wow tatty furniture burns quicker did you really think first before posting that how did it even enter your head

Criminally negligent refurb work looks responsible, not people's possessions ffs

If the building is found to have been unsafe what will happen to others built the same way? Will all the people be rehoused or will they have to live in the death trap ? :(

What will they do with them all as they correct the mistakes

The fire spread at a ridiculous rate on the outside of the building which Id think indicates that it wasn't due to 'cheap and tatty' furniture.

I saw the leader of Kensington council on tv just 2 days ago after the election. He was complaining about the governments housing policies in the borough. I've seen they put off fire safety investigations for tower blocks in the area. It's awful.

The councillor on BBC now looks utterly distraught. He's saying he would have thought it was the safest tower block in the borough after the refurb work. New heating kitchens and cladding apparently.

I know it's premature to be saying this, but I hope every single person/organisation who is responsible for this is discovered and brought to account. Hundreds of people must have been killed. What an absolute travesty. And people knew it could happen.

Cllr saying '125 homeless families' - I suspect (and I'm angry and so sad about this) there will be far fewer.

I hope this also signals the end of the 'deputy heads will roll' culture. People at the top knew.

Just awful. Hope some more people can be saved :(

I sincerely doubt they are going to be able to say how many fatalities there have been for a while. That fire was insane.

Horrible news to wake up to

Those poor people.

Terrible tragedy that we can't imagine happening in 21st century UK - surely this only happens in poorer countries with less strict rules etc etc. But I suppose we will have another round of minute's silences, fundraising, armbands. Can't help thinking we've got everything arse about face.

ITs daily mail so all the usual caveats apply but reports it was caused by a faulty fridge.

HeyRoly

I agree. Never thought this sort of thing could happen in our country naively believing that those in positions of responsibility act in the interest of the population . I could imagine this sort of thing in countries where corruption is rife but thought that our councillors and people in charge of public health and safety were rock solid.

How wrong was i.

No alarms went off according to eye witness.

WTF

Just how can this happen in London in 2017???

If people have been callous about residents' safety head must roll.

And absolutely at 'stay put' policy.

Is this common in tower blocks?

Apparently (according to eyewitnesses and people piecing things together) a fridge exploded on the 4th floor.

Guy on the news said one woman left her flat on the 12th floor with her six kids and when she got to the bottom she could only find four of them. I've had to switch the TV off.

I used to live next a few of these huge blocks of flats and have seen a couple of them catch fire, but they are usually pretty quick to get put out and haven't spread. Someone has majorly, majorly fucked up and someone has been cutting corners and I've got a really horrid feeling it would have been to save money. :(

rose, Yes - but as pp said, not in large tower-like hotels. Maybe hotels aren't cladded in flammable crap.

www.highrisefirefighting.co.uk/evac.html

Reading this, it wouldn't appear that Grenfell Towers fits the criteria for a 'stay put' policy. At all.

The councils and HA specifying cheap crap for cladding and insulation works. I'm just about to start a large energy efficiency project for a local authority, to include external wall cladding. Already heard this morning in the office the works are now likely to be shelved