Cladding Catastrophe - London Towerblock Fire

[Abigail]

I don't know if this has featured on the news in other parts of the world but a fire started in a towerblock flat late Tuesday night and the place just went up like a match. The fire caught hold unbelievably fast travelling up the building aided by the cladding that had recently been applied to the exterior. We haven't been given a final death toll but considering the folk who were trapped inside - whole families on upper floors - it is going to be high and is incredibly sad when you see pictures of the people who are missing and hear accounts about how, in their final minutes, many took to social media to say their goodbyes to family and friends. The fire seems to have confounded normal fire fighting practise and the people who stayed put put in their flats behind fire doors have died. Fire services are still going through the block and we are hearing today that it may be impossible to identify people.

Apparently this cladding may have caused similar fast travelling fires in Dubai and it seems dangerous to wrap buildings in this stuff. If anyone lives in a cladded block demand the cladding is checked out for fire proofing.

[Starlight]

It has been major news worldwide. Very sad.

Apparently it isn't mandatory in the UK to have sprinkler systems within buildings the way it is in other parts of the world?

And it boggles the mind as to why cladding is allowed to be flammable.

[NorrinRadd]

Fox News (and I assume other news outlets) have covered this for several days, from the time the fire was ongoing. They mentioned the cladding as a possible problem. They mentioned that there have been allegations for some time that the building's management had not adequately updated the 1970's-era building to modern fire safety standards. The current reported death toll is 17, with more expected, based on dozens still unaccounted for. They say it may take weeks to thoroughly search the structure.

At one point there were concerns that the building might actually collapse, and structural engineers were on site to evaluate. I have not heard more about that.

[Abigail]

It has been major news worldwide. Very sad.

Apparently it isn't mandatory in the UK to have sprinkler systems within buildings the way it is in other parts of the world?

I think it is in newer buildings. These tower blocks are postwar so built in 1950s iirc. A Council chief is reported as saying they did not install sprinklers lately as residents were resistant to the disruption it would cause. Since when do councils listen to resident concerns

And it boggles the mind as to why cladding is allowed to be flammable.

Apparently the cladding has created air pockets behind it which have functioned like air tunnels or something and this aided the fire to travel about. I read something about the cladding only needing to be fire resistent on the surface and iirc the outer surface of the cladding - though one would assume any surface with an air pocket behind it is an outer surface (so the suface facing the air pocket is also an 'outer 'surface ).

[Abigail]

Fox News (and I assume other news outlets) have covered this for several days, from the time the fire was ongoing. They mentioned the cladding as a possible problem. They mentioned that there have been allegations for some time that the building's management had not adequately updated the 1970's-era building to modern fire safety standards. The current reported death toll is 17, with more expected, based on dozens still unaccounted for. They say it may take weeks to thoroughly search the structure.

Yes they just pretty up the outer, and that on the cheap so it seems. These are old blocks and do not have the same regulations as newer ones. They should but if these regulations were suddenly applied to old blocks you would automatically have hundreds of homeless people as the flats would immediately be considered a safety risk with residents needing to be rehoused. UK has a huge housing crises, especially in the south

At one point there were concerns that the building might actually collapse, and structural engineers were on site to evaluate. I have not heard more about that.

Apparently it is safe.

[EvoUK]

It's causing riots now, and the Governments (especially Mayhems) response has been bad optics and slow, if you wish to be charitable.

May should have met with the families, but decided not to and instead only met with the firemen. After hiding from the public during the general election, to do so again so soon and in such circumstances does not look good - though I understand she's belatedly done so today. Which is far too late.

Apparently it isn't mandatory in the UK to have sprinkler systems within buildings the way it is in other parts of the world?

New buildings have to have them - among other safety precautions, however those over ~30 years old don't have to. The reason for this is multi-faceted, and none of it good. Essentially this is what happens when you cut out too much red tape- we've had MPs rejecting housing regulation, the cuts to the relevant housing departments in councils so they can no longer do their job, disregarding previous coroners reports from similar situations, etc.

As one MP put it, this was essentially corporate manslaughter.