Thais among residents caught in London high-rise blaze

[webfact]

Thais among residents caught in London high-rise blaze
By The Nation

 

Smoke and flames billows from Grenfell Tower as firefighters attempt to control a blaze at a residential block of flats on June 14, 2017 in west London. / AFP PHOTO / Adrian DENNIS

 

LONDON: -- At least one Thai family was inside Grenfell Tower in west London yesterday while the building was engulfed in flames, ultimately claiming at least 12 lives.

 

Waewta Suparerksanon, 62, told BBC Thai that she and four other members of her family escaped from the inferno at about 4am local time. She said she’d lived on the 10th floor of the 24-storey building for 31 years.

 

Waewta was watching television at around 1am when she heard about the fire. Her younger sister phoned the emergency services number and was told the family should remain in their flat.

 

“Luckily we didn’t believe [the phone operator] and got out quickly,” Waewta said, noting that it took a while for rescuers to reach them. Firefighters guided residents out via a fire escape.

 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Busadee Santipitaks told The Nation that the Thai Embassy in London had been in touch with Waewta’s family and another Thai family and was in the process of contacting a third.

 

The embassy yesterday encouraged Thai citizens in London to stay away from the scene while monitoring updates issued by the local authorities. Anyone in need of assistance or urgent information can call the embassy at 079 186 51720.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30318148

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-15

[trogers]

and was told the family should remain in their flat...

 

In other less developed parts of the world, they would be told to get out of the building using the nearest fire escape.

 

The UK has some space age technology incorporated in their buildings?

[sanemax]

5 minutes ago, trogers said:

and was told the family should remain in their flat...

The reasoning behind that is that if threre's a fire in a high rise building , it would expected to be quickly contained and extinguished and it would be safer to stay in your property and cover all the doors to stop smoke coming in , or risk a stampede on the way out or getting trapped someone and dying from smoke inhalation

    That was the theory , but there has been a catastrophic failure in this instance

Everyone will need to go back to the drawing board and think again

   Modern day high risers are built to contain any fires and too stop them spreading

   

[TheFishman1]

Didn't work in this one

[dinsdale]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

The UK has some space age technology incorporated in their buildings?

Does this space age tech include fire sprinklers? 

[Mickmouse1]

The UK has one of the most strict fire regulation rules in the world.Here there is a clear case of CORRUPTION where millions were spent but nothing to show for it. Absolutely nothing, no fire escape..no adequate access for fire engines...no sprinklers....no adherence to local council guidelines on safety.

 

[peterb17]

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

The reasoning behind that is that if threre's a fire in a high rise building , it would expected to be quickly contained and extinguished and it would be safer to stay in your property and cover all the doors to stop smoke coming in , or risk a stampede on the way out or getting trapped someone and dying from smoke inhalation

    That was the theory , but there has been a catastrophic failure in this instance

Everyone will need to go back to the drawing board and think again

   Modern day high risers are built to contain any fires and too stop them spreading

   

 

Yes you are correct.

 

My flat in London in Canary Wharf was on the 29th floor- it goes up to 52 floors!

 

There was a fire- the flat was burnt out- nobody else was affected in the slightest it was completely contained- BUT that was a brand new high end block recently built.

 

This place was built in 1974- all over London we have seen these old blocks 'smartened ' up by local boroughs with cladding etc- then sold at a huge profit of course. Costs were cut- not using a more expensive mineral based fire proof insulation material. Anyone watching the terrible videos- could see it was the cladding that caused the building to go up within minutes .

 

Of course pandering all the time to the 'sustainability ' green energy agenda. 

 

Its dreadful. 

 

Corbyn trying to make a political point that local boroughs had funding cuts- it's just incompetence of the Government and local officials - heads should roll- but NO- it's going to be the usual c*** - ' oh we should learn from this ' - and then have endless enquiries enriching some Lord or other and making lawyers millionaires . 

 

Gosh - it demonstrates the pressure on housing in London due to the population explosion - reports of of up to eight people living in a two bedroom flat .

 

 

 

[trogers]

9 minutes ago, peterb17 said:

 

Yes you are correct.

 

My flat in London in Canary Wharf was on the 29th floor- it goes up to 52 floors!

 

There was a fire- the flat was burnt out- nobody else was affected in the slightest it was completely contained- BUT that was a brand new high end block recently built.

 

This place was built in 1974- all over London we have seen these old blocks 'smartened ' up by local boroughs with cladding etc- then sold at a huge profit of course. Costs were cut- not using a more expensive mineral based fire proof insulation material. Anyone watching the terrible videos- could see it was the cladding that caused the building to go up within minutes .

 

Of course pandering all the time to the 'sustainability ' green energy agenda. 

 

Its dreadful. 

 

Corbyn trying to make a political point that local boroughs had funding cuts- it's just incompetence of the Government and local officials - heads should roll- but NO- it's going to be the usual c*** - ' oh we should learn from this ' - and then have endless enquiries enriching some Lord or other and making lawyers millionaires . 

 

Gosh - it demonstrates the pressure on housing in London due to the population explosion - reports of of up to eight people living in a two bedroom flat .

 

 

 

Even the former colonies of Britain, like HK and Singapore, have better fire safety standards incorporated in their public housing back in 1974.

 

This is one clear reason Britain lost its title 'Great'.

[peterb17]

35 minutes ago, Mickmouse1 said:

The UK has one of the most strict fire regulation rules in the world.Here there is a clear case of CORRUPTION where millions were spent but nothing to show for it. Absolutely nothing, no fire escape..no adequate access for fire engines...no sprinklers....no adherence to local council guidelines on safety.

 

May I ask what nationality you are?

 

Corruption implies that more expensive / works were paid for and then money was skimmed . ( a bit like a country we know and love) 

 

its very rare  ( apart from the Muslim controlled boroughs such as Tower Hamlets- paragons of virtue ) 

 

Its incompetence and cost cutting- from one of the richest boroughs in the city- why would they care about a tower block full of poor migrants. 

[peterb17]

10 minutes ago, trogers said:

Even the former colonies of Britain, like HK and Singapore, have better fire safety standards incorporated in their public housing back in 1974.

 

This is one clear reason Britain lost its title 'Great'.

 

Mmm - have you seen the housing in Hong Kong? Singapore has knocked everything down. 

 

Lets  not get into knocking the UK and their colonial past ( for a tiny island it packed a punch) whilst those amazingly brave fire fighters are searching for bodies. 

[Ace of Pop]

Bet they never had to report every 90 days.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Briggsy]

The suspicion has now fallen on the cladding that was used in the 2015 refurbishment that caused, allegedly, the fire to spread on the outside of the building. The cladding had a polyethylene core.

[transam]

26 minutes ago, trogers said:

Even the former colonies of Britain, like HK and Singapore, have better fire safety standards incorporated in their public housing back in 1974.

 

This is one clear reason Britain lost its title 'Great'.

Daft post...

[trogers]

10 minutes ago, peterb17 said:

 

Mmm - have you seen the housing in Hong Kong? Singapore has knocked everything down. 

 

Lets  not get into knocking the UK and their colonial past ( for a tiny island it packed a punch) whilst those amazingly brave fire fighters are searching for bodies. 

Public housing in Singapore built in the early 70s are still there in the two oldest estates - Queenstown and Toa Payoh.

 

In HK, it's Shatin.

[Deli]

Fugitive enimy of state no.2 wasn't perhaps staying there and used his wings ? Oh no... by far too cheap

[peterb17]

15 minutes ago, trogers said:

Public housing in Singapore built in the early 70s are still there in the two oldest estates - Queenstown and Toa Payoh.

 

In HK, it's Shatin.

As I said- what relevance is sodding housing in Singapore and Hong Kong and knocking Great Britain when the body count rises. 

[Knee Jerk Reaction]

41 minutes ago, trogers said:

Even the former colonies of Britain, like HK and Singapore, have better fire safety standards incorporated in their public housing back in 1974.

 

This is one clear reason Britain lost its title 'Great'.

The Great in Britain doesn't mean awesome, brilliant or anything like that and nor was it ever meant to. It means big as in great storm, great flood etc,. Amazing how many Brits even don't know that fact.

[mrdome]

2 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Does this space age tech include fire sprinklers? 

Very limited use as the fire spread via the outside of the building in this case, the heat breaking the windows, flames sucked into each floor and consuming it from all sides. I've seen the developer state that the aluminum composite cladding was not a point of concern to their knowledge - insane! Anyone can see that it was highly flammable. I've never seen a comparable fire in an apartment building and the fact that the tenants talked about an impeding fire disaster just a few months ago makes this especially tragic.

 

I've also never seen a residential building with sprinklers inside the actual apartments - does this exist anywhere?

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

Here there is a clear case of CORRUPTION

Yes, clearly safety and compliance were not a priority for management nor something "authorities" felt motivated to deal with.

A telling comment from the residents' action group "that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord ..." Maybe they needed to slip a thicker brown envelope to inspectors.

 

Quote

 

An action group for the building's residents had complained on its blog of lax fire and safety standards at least eight times during the past three years, accusing the site's landlords, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organization (KCTMO), of mismanagement and neglect.

 

In a post from November 2016 entitled, "KCTMO -- Playing with fire!" the association said, "It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders."

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fire-in-london-high-rise-grenfell-tower-residents-complained-lax-fire-safety-standards/

 

Really sad and the result of incompetence, corruption, arrogance and greed.

 

Quote

"If the same concerns were had in a wealthy part of Kensington and Chelsea they would have got resolved, but here they didn't get resolved," Collins said.

 

Quote

Rydon issued a statement late Wednesday saying their work, "met all required building control, fire regulation and health & safety standards."

 

Quote

""There are kids that are literally just being thrown out of the balcony, people throwing themselves out of the balcony just so they don't get burned,"

 

[trogers]

1 hour ago, peterb17 said:

As I said- what relevance is sodding housing in Singapore and Hong Kong and knocking Great Britain when the body count rises. 

Sodding housing in inferior Singapore and HK don't do the Towering Inferno bit...

[Guest Jerry787]

tory voted for more relaxed regulation including not requiring safety fire water sprinkle in case of fire and more cheap flammable wall plastering and paint materials.

fire may happen,  regulations are needed to prevent greater damage and casualties, tory didnt care people lives, cared developers profits.

[lonewolf99]

Stayed in numerous new and older Condos (View Talays) in Jomtien / Pattaya  and all had sprinklers in the room, all had fire escape stairwells with fire doors on each landing, all had smoke detectors, some even have fire hoses on every floor and certainly fire extinguishers. ( not sure if they would work ? but)....as mentioned already this seems to be a cladding issue and it certainly looked like it in any video or photo I have seen. 

 

I have also attended at least a dozen offshore oil and gas  / Marine fire fighting courses in my time and all the training says. :-  Get out !!! ASAP... if you can, put a wet towel over your mouth and nose, try to stay calm, get down low and go...

 

Utter madness that the people were told to say inside the building? forget all that getting crushed in the rush. The Thai woman in the news article did the right thing.

[esprit]

2 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

The UK has one of the most strict fire regulation rules in the world.Here there is a clear case of CORRUPTION where millions were spent but nothing to show for it. Absolutely nothing, no fire escape..no adequate access for fire engines...no sprinklers....no adherence to local council guidelines on safety.

 

Yes and only time will tell if money pinching or back handers were the reason that the cladding, if that was an accelerant, were to blame so that the contracting company could go in with  a lower price for the polymer cladding internals rather than a fire retardant internal which the cladding manufacturing company also offers according to their web site.  Yes there is corruption here but there is everywhere and the only difference is that it is more sophisticated in the UK.  Don't forget Rolls Royce back handers to Thai companies as a prime example

[peterb17]

1 hour ago, trogers said:

Sodding housing in inferior Singapore and HK don't do the Towering Inferno bit...

32 killed and 79 injured in Hong Kong high rise- inadequate safety regulations blamed- Google is always your friend. So proved wrong on that point.

 

You totally miss the point of my reply- many have died- you are withering on about ex colonies- I can only presume you are an embittered colonial . 

[peterb17]

1 hour ago, Jerry787 said:

tory voted for more relaxed regulation including not requiring safety fire water sprinkle in case of fire and more cheap flammable wall plastering and paint materials.

fire may happen,  regulations are needed to prevent greater damage and casualties, tory didnt care people lives, cared developers profits.

Reference please ? The Government sent guidelines that sprinklers should be retro-fitted. 

Then it is up to local boroughs to implement - as I said before- the richest borough in London caring about a tower block full of immigrants ? That's the crime here . 

[Woodsie888]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

Public housing in Singapore built in the early 70s are still there in the two oldest estates - Queenstown and Toa Payoh.

 

In HK, it's Shatin.

I agree, Strathmore House in Queenstown has just had it's entire sprinkler system replaced.

It never ceases to amaze me how Singapore is always on top of infrastructure. 

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, esprit said:

Yes and only time will tell if money pinching or back handers were the reason that the cladding, if that was an accelerant, were to blame so that the contracting company could go in with  a lower price for the polymer cladding internals rather than a fire retardant internal which the cladding manufacturing company also offers according to their web site. 

The tenants pay for their properties upgrades through service charges

The local Councils a go with the cheapest price  , good deal for the tenants

The builders cut their costs , by using cheaper materials 

The cheapest builder gets the contract, tenants dont have to pay so much

Everyones happy......until it all goes up in flames

    Im not passing judgment here : As a tenant and a builder, I can see both sides of it

[wakeupplease]

4 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

The UK has one of the most strict fire regulation rules in the world.Here there is a clear case of CORRUPTION where millions were spent but nothing to show for it. Absolutely nothing, no fire escape..no adequate access for fire engines...no sprinklers....no adherence to local council guidelines on safety.

 

And knowing the UK some little scum bag and his company will go to jail for a long time for this and rightly so

 

I cannot believe this happened in this day and age here, one big shock to see this happen, but rest assure no white wash on this.

[phutoie2]

48 minutes ago, Woodsie888 said:

I agree, Strathmore House in Queenstown has just had it's entire sprinkler system replaced.

It never ceases to amaze me how Singapore is always on top of infrastructure. 

They need to be, never know when the Japs come cycling down from the north. 

[Woodsie888]

3 minutes ago, phutoie2 said:

They need to be, never know when the Japs come cycling down from the north. 

I noticed a couple today, they looked quite exhausted.