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Thread: London tower block blaze

  1. #1
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    London tower block blaze

    I can barely bring myself to look at the pics, let alone imagine the horrors of what people there went through, and are going through right now

    Words feel so inadequate.

  2. #2
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    Absolutely horrific scenes.

    My work is all about fire and safety, and I have so many questions. In this day and age this amount of loss of life shouldn't happen, because of the amount of legislation that is in place.

    Very very sad, from every vantage point.

    In third world countries it could happen in, but not places like Oz, U.S, Australia etc.
    Fires will always happen, and even high rise buildings that don't have sprinkler systems, they will have alarms systems (unless rules are different in the UK) and these alarms have testing requirements, all based around sound, time, response, hooked up to smoke and heat detectors, as well as manually operated alarms. Then in the buildings there's fire doors, hose reels, hydrants, extinguishers and emergency exit lighting. There will be regular tests and evacuation drills..... But once again maybe the regulations are different up there.

  3. #3
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    Cheap cost cutting aluminum cladding to make old block of flats look modern! Someone is for the high jump me thinks, terrible and totally avoidable!!

  4. #4
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    I am dumbfounded by what I heard today, that the evacuation procedures in the building was taught/explained "you stay in your room unless there's a fire in it." Oh my goodness, that is crazy! Yes if you are elderly, or wheel chair bound and you are unable to move, but at the absolute least get to the emergency stairwell.
    Not what I teach, train over here. That being said I don't train and teach 20+ story buildings.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by yubbywelch View Post
    I am dumbfounded by what I heard today, that the evacuation procedures in the building was taught/explained "you stay in your room unless there's a fire in it." Oh my goodness, that is crazy! Yes if you are elderly, or wheel chair bound and you are unable to move, but at the absolute least get to the emergency stairwell.
    Not what I teach, train over here. That being said I don't train and teach 20+ story buildings.
    Well we all heard 911 calls from the twin towers from people trapped on the higher floors and were told to 'stay in your office, the fire service will rescue you'

    What I would like to know is why was everyone in this tower a Muslim? There is mutterings of a deliberate arson attack because of the London terror attacks, I'm not buying that one but stranger things have happened. Personally I would say it was a tragic accident, a simple cooking accident from families eating during Ramadam! The BIG question is why did it burn so quickly? some people saying the flames went from bottom to top in just 15 minutes, there is no way you can fight or work around that, I fear the death toll could be anything from 50-100 by the time all the floors are checked out. What an absolute disaster that as I said was totally avoidable.

  6. #6
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    Fire happens, and will continue to happen, especially as our electrical equipment gets older, and of course there's always the human element.

    I reckon it was just an accident, that is going to have huge flow on affects throughout the motherland.

    And I reckon over 100 people, just because of what people are taught in that building.

    So sad

  7. #7
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    I was wondering what your response to the advice given would be, Yubby, as I know it is your field of expertise.

    From reports I've been reading, the death toll would have been much higher had many survivors not ignored instructions to stay put in their flats and to use wet towels to stop the smoke coming in, so yes, it seems you are right.

    I understand that the theory behind this policy in tower blocks is that the flats are all self-contained units with fire cladding encasing them, so they believed that if there was a fire in one flat, it shouldn't affect anyone else - or at least give fire fighters a couple of hours to put it out ... Unfortunately, the fire took hold and by the time they changed their advice and told people to get out it was too late for many ...

    I'm not too sure about fire safety regs in the UK, Yubby, so I can't answer that one, but, as you say, there are going to be huge changes now. Sadly, too late, as usual.

    I was horrified to read that the cladding mentioned by TD is apparently banned in the US and that for another £5K the council could have bought fire-resistant cladding. Shouldn't all cladding be fire resistant?

    I feel so angry - it seems that fire safety experts have been warning the government about the cladding in this tower for the last few years and the tenants/residents association had been voicing concerns about fire safety for years. Nothing was done. It feels like the poorest in our society were not deemed worthy of living in safe housing. And of course, when your options are limited, you don't have the choice to move to somewhere better.

    Wonderful, brave fire fighters, who were told to write their names on helmets in case they didn't come out. But they still went in. So humbling. I cannot imagine the horrors they saw.
    Last edited by MissWinnie; 16-06-2017 at 06:24 PM.

  8. #8
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    Here in Qld our fire and safety regulations have been far and above the rest of Australia since a horrific incident in a little town called Childers where smoke alarms weren't working, fire exits blocked and locked(1am) in 2012 we had a set of standards that Australian all tried to agree on, Qld didn't want to sign off because even these improved standards for every other state, was still not as good (strict) as Qld's

    The cladding was cheaper, and was the obvious choice, as regulation allows them to install it. Got a feeling that will change.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe...rs_Hostel_fire

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by yubbywelch View Post
    Here in Qld our fire and safety regulations have been far and above the rest of Australia since a horrific incident in a little town called Childers where smoke alarms weren't working, fire exits blocked and locked(1am) in 2012 we had a set of standards that Australian all tried to agree on, Qld didn't want to sign off because even these improved standards for every other state, was still not as good (strict) as Qld's

    The cladding was cheaper, and was the obvious choice, as regulation allows them to install it. Got a feeling that will change.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe...rs_Hostel_fire
    As you know I travel around a bit and stay in some rather tall hotels, some of which and not all, have a 'Smoke hoods' in the room. Obviously this is to assist you in your escape and protect against smoke not fire but as we all know the smoke comes first and kills. I know its after the event but for the guys who are now worried about their safety, why don't the local councils fork out and give out free smoke hoods in an effort to actually do something as a result of this tragedy!.

    One observation which does not add up though and a bit random, I am watching TV pictures of Thousands of Muslims protesting through the streets of London asking for justice, dare I ask, where were these people when the terrorists slaughtered innocent tourist in the very streets of London just 10 days ago???

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by yubbywelch View Post
    Here in Qld our fire and safety regulations have been far and above the rest of Australia since a horrific incident in a little town called Childers where smoke alarms weren't working, fire exits blocked and locked(1am) in 2012 we had a set of standards that Australian all tried to agree on, Qld didn't want to sign off because even these improved standards for every other state, was still not as good (strict) as Qld's

    The cladding was cheaper, and was the obvious choice, as regulation allows them to install it. Got a feeling that will change.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe...rs_Hostel_fire
    I vaguely remember the Childers fire. Awful that it has to take these kind of horrific incidents before safety is taken seriously. Life's not risk free but why not make things as safe as humanly possible?

    Tis a good job you do, bro.

    And Dave, yes, smoke hoods would be a good idea.

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