Latimer Road fire: Huge fire engulfs west London flats

 

LONDON: -- Firefighters are tackling a huge fire in a tower block in Latimer Road, west London, with eyewitnesses saying the flames have engulfed 24 storeys.

 

Police were called at 01:16 BST to reports of "a large fire" in the Grenfell Tower block of flats, in the Lancaster West Estate.

 

The Metropolitan Police said "an evacuation process is under way".

 

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-40269625

 

-- © Copyright BBC 2017-06-14

The whole building is now burning and fire authorities are now concerned about collapse.

 

 

 

That looks absolutely horrific and tragically it seems some people are trapped. I lived in a tower block in Shanghai and Singapore and this was always my worst fear.

Happening when it did, so many people would have been asleep in their beds.

I wish the best to the brave firefighters who have been working hard to get people out.

 

Edited June 14, 20179 yr by darksidedog

Huge fire engulfs 27-floor London tower block

By Guy Faulconbridge

 

Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London, Britain June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

 

LONDON (Reuters) - A huge fire engulfed a 27-storey block of flats in central London on Wednesday injuring a number of people.

 

Massive flames licked up the sides of the block as 200 firefighters battled the blaze along with 40 fire engines. Flumes of black smoke billowed into the air.

 

 

London Fire Brigade said the fire had engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in west London.

 

Some people were trapped in the fire, with residents desperately shouting for help from windows on upper floors as the fire spread, some British media reported. Reuters could confirm those reports.

 

 

"A number of people being treated for a range of injuries," police said. "Residents continue to be evacuated from the tower block fire."

 

The cause of the fire, which broke out just after 0000 GMT, is not known at this stage, the Fire Brigade said.

 

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-14

 

 

latest video posts show the entire thing up in flames, totally.   So much flame the water jets look like they are flame throwers spraying the building.

Holly crap. This is going to be a massive loss of life.

Some video I have seen people flashing their room lights off and on to draw attention. No way anyone could get to them.

How could it spread so quickly to engulf the whole building?

And one scenario at the back of my mind,  I can't bring myself to say out loud.

Just now, PattayaJames said:

Holly crap. This is going to be a massive loss of life.

Some video I have seen people flashing their room lights off and on to draw attention. No way anyone could get to them.

How could it spread so quickly to engulf the whole building?

And one scenario at the back of my mind,  I can't bring myself to say out loud.

I know what you mean. I have been thinking the same thing myself. I truly am hoping this was an accident.

1 minute ago, darksidedog said:

I know what you mean. I have been thinking the same thing myself. I truly am hoping this was an accident.

And beyond that, I am sure even if this is an accident......... 

One resident is claiming the fire started in a neighbors unit so there may be answers about the source.

 

What are the demographics of the residents of the building? 

34 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

One resident is claiming the fire started in a neighbors unit so there may be answers about the source.

 

What are the demographics of the residents of the building? 

Live at the moment one person reported that his neighbour woke him to say that his fridge motor had gone on fire and set fire to his kitchen on the second floor.

As yet unconfirmed by authorities.

 

This is truly horrific. Are there any indications about the potential loss of life yet? I can only hope that as many as possible escaped but for those higher up the building would have had big problems in getting out.

Looks like the fire spread on the outside of the building, and very quickly. Flammable cladding?

This is terrible. Latest from the BBC says a "significant number of people" were unaccounted for.

10 minutes ago, PattayaJames said:

Looks like the fire spread on the outside of the building, and very quickly. Flammable cladding?

Looking at some of the footage it does look like large chunks of it on fire and falling off the building still burning as they fall.

Absolutely unforgivable - the management have been warned repeatedly about the state of the building.

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/grenfell-tower-still-a-fire-risk/

Having been in the uk fire sevice for 30yrs retired last year i can say this incident is pretty much the worst ive seen.<deleted> wont be able to enter for a long time if at all due to structural difficulties.As for fatalities its not looking good but im hopeful.

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

One resident is claiming the fire started in a neighbors unit so there may be answers about the source.

 

What are the demographics of the residents of the building? 

Council flats so mostly low income / unemployed I expect. Poor sods.

Edited June 14, 20179 yr by rwdrwdrwd

reading that the fire alarms didn't go off

?

Its unbelievable that in this day and age with all the controls that are in place, that any building, regardless of where it is, could go up as fast as that.

 

My deepest condolences to everybody that has been caught up in this, it really does look terrible.

3 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

reading that the fire alarms didn't go off

?

Yes, first eyewitness account I heard said so...

 

Just can not imagine a building of that size not having multiple "fail safe" fire panels all inter linked so even if one panel was tripped or failed all the other would go off.

 

Nobody has said anything yet but when heard that the fire alarm did no go off and how quickly the fire spreed I will not rule out a terrorist attack.

7 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

Its unbelievable that in this day and age with all the controls that are in place, that any building, regardless of where it is, could go up as fast as that.

 

My deepest condolences to everybody that has been caught up in this, it really does look terrible.

One resident who got out is saying the cladding fed the flames up the building. On television a couple of minutes ago.

6 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Yes, first eyewitness account I heard said so...

 

Just can not imagine a building of that size not having multiple "fail safe" fire panels all inter linked so even if one panel was tripped or failed all the other would go off.

 

Nobody has said anything yet but when heard that the fire alarm did no go off and how quickly the fire spreed I will not rule out a terrorist attack.

Looks like the terrorist was a fridge motor that set a kitchen on fire.

Reported by a neighbour a couple of hours ago on television.

8 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Looks like the terrorist was a fridge motor that set a kitchen on fire.

Reported by a neighbour a couple of hours ago on television.

Another thought I had was a Dryer, I think Hotpoints Whirlpool Corp's share may tumble today.

Edited June 14, 20179 yr by Basil B
Reserch... Hotpoint Owned by Whirlpool

7 minutes ago, overherebc said:

One resident who got out is saying the cladding fed the flames up the building. On television a couple of minutes ago.

Have just read this from the BBC site:

 

"It is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) on behalf of the council and had undergone a two-year, £10m refurbishment that was completed last year".

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-40269625 

I hope everyone got out safely ... if a terrorist attack then the perpetrators will be caught and killed quickly.  Looks very bad on TV. 

3 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I hope everyone got out safely ... if a terrorist attack then the perpetrators will be caught and killed quickly.  Looks very bad on TV. 

From what I heard already eyewitness seen dead body, given the size of the building and the speed of the fire I fear for fire fighters too.

 

From what I am hearing If the number of fatalities is below triple digits, that will be a miracle.

12 minutes ago, Basil B said:

From what I heard already eyewitness seen dead body, given the size of the building and the speed of the fire I fear for fire fighters too.

 

From what I am hearing If the number of fatalities is below triple digits, that will be a miracle.

I've been watching it on BBC since the news broke. It was so fast from lower levels to the complete building being on fire it was difficult to believe. About 1 hour after the first call to the emergency srvices the building was burning bottom to top with only one bottom corner seeming to be not burning.

One resident reported that his neighbour woke him to say his fridge motor had gone on fire and set fire to his kitchen.

No-one really knows at the moment.

Edited June 14, 20179 yr by overherebc