Devastating Fire Engulfs West London Tower – 120 Flats

11 Comments

1. 

   The Voice In The Wilderness on June 14, 2017 at 3:06 pm

   I’ve seen elsewhere on the net, the claim that Green materials were required and they were highly flammable. ?????????

   • 

     Oui on June 14, 2017 at 3:52 pm

     Quite unlikely … in my first analysis within the first hour of the blaze, I pointed to the refurbishment and the added cladding to the exterior with insulation material. There is a cavity between the original exterior and the attached cladding which seems to have a chimney effect to spread the fire from the 4th floor to the 24th within 30 minutes. In high rise buildings the fire should be compartmentalised to prevent such an inferno. Major, major flaws in design or use of materials and abuse of fire safety standards.

     The residential building was council owned for the city’s lower income families. The Kensington Chelsea district is one of the most expensive residential areas. Some reports mention the cladding was added for “appearances” for the wealthy residents in this area.

     • 

       The Voice In The Wilderness on June 14, 2017 at 7:09 pm

       https://caucus99percent.com/comment/272659#comment-272659

2. 

   Oui on June 14, 2017 at 3:35 pm

   Government delayed review of tower block safety regulations after deadly blaze

   The government was warned earlier this year of the deadly danger posed by fire safety failings in tower blocks.

   Experts said in March that after a review into building regulations, parliament should ask “really serious questions” about the safety of tower blocks and the danger posed by fire. The warnings have been restated after multiple people died in a fire in West London.

   Housing minister Gavin Barwell had committed last year to review the specific part of building regulations that relate to fire safety. But that report was delayed earlier this year, Fire Risk Management reported in March, with a spokesperson then refusing to give a date for the launch of the review.

   Phillip Davis, a member of parliament, filibustered debate on a bill to make housing “fit for human habitation.” Additionally, in 2013 foreign secretary Boris Johnson told an MP to “get stuffed” when he questioned cuts to fire services.

   Mr Barwell is now Theresa May’s chief of staff, after he lost his seat in the recent election.

   That report was called for after a deadly fire in Lakanal House in South London. The resulting investigation found problems with fire risk assessments and the fire resistance of the building.

   Lakanal House tower block fire: deaths ‘could have been prevented’ | The Guardian – 2013 |

   Relevant fire safety regulations:

   ○ ‘Disaster waiting to happen’: fire expert slams UK tower blocks
   ○ CPD 6 2016: Fire safety of external cladding for high-rise buildings

3. 

   Oui on June 15, 2017 at 10:27 am

   Anger in Britain as Grenfell Tower death toll looks set to rise | DW |

   The tower block fire in West London has raised questions about the safety record of the company that managed the building – and the government.

   The last flames of the catastrophic blaze at Grenfell Tower in West London were extinguished Thursday morning. The death toll currently stands at 17, a figure police said is bound to rise when a comprehensive search of the entire tower is possible. Officials said there is little hope any survivors will be found.

    « click for more info »

   It is still unclear what set off the fire, which engulfed the 24-story building in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but after visiting the site on Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May called for a public inquiry into the disaster.

   “We need to know what happened, we need to have an explanation
   of this. People deserve answers, the inquiry will give them.”

   ○ A 2011 report found that three-quarters of Britain’s social housing blocks were potentially unsafe in a fire

   Much attention has turned to factors that may have contributed to the blaze. It has been widely reported that a residents’ association for the tower block had repeatedly tried to draw attention to the risk of fire. In one chilling blog post from last November, the Grenfell Action Group warned that only a “catastrophic event” would “bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation” at the building.

   Council Failure

   Grenfell Tower was built in 1974 by the Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, and is now – like much of Britain’s social housing – managed by a private company. This company, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), has been heavily criticized over the last 24 hours. In 2015, it carried out an 8.6 million pound (9.8 million euro, $11 million) refurbishment to Grenfell Tower, as part of a regeneration project across the borough.

   “In 2002 KCTMO took over the responsibility for major capital works from the Council to access extra resources and funding to enable KCTMO to bring the properties up to the Decent Homes Standard.

   KCTMO is managed by a Board of Directors comprising of eight elected tenant and leaseholder members, four appointed Councillor members and three independent appointed other members. The aims of the organisation are numerous, as set out by strategic objectives in a business plan each year.

   Double glazed windows and a communal heating system were installed, additional homes added using vacant spaces, and new exterior cladding put in place. It has been alleged that this cladding, with a plastic core, could have contributed to the blaze spreading.

   The BBC has reported that high-rise buildings in France, the United Arab Emirates and Australia with similar cladding were all hit by fast-spreading fires. The company that completed the renovations, Rydon, said their work on Grenfell met all fire regulations.

   Wates Living Space to revamp Goldfinger Tower for KCTMO

4. 

   Oui on June 15, 2017 at 5:03 pm

   From experience across the globe, the risks of cladding as a fire hazard in high rise buildings had been reported!

   Fire Risks From External Cladding Panels – A Perspective From The UK

   1. Introduction

   New Year’s Eve celebrations in Dubai were marred by the fire in The Address Downtown Hotel and residential building, opposite the Burj Khalifa, the world’s highest skyscraper.  The exterior of the supertall (302m) The Address was consumed in flames and thick black smoke, with more than 40 storeys burning simultaneously at one stage.  Investigations are in hand, but the fire in Dubai’s 18th tallest tower appears to be similar to the fires in the external cladding of the 352m Marina Torch residence (21 February 2015) and of the Tamweel Tower (18 November 2012).  Fire spread in external cladding has been the primary issue not only in these three major Dubai fires, but in others in the Middle East and China.

   It is widely suspected that the presence of combustible aluminum composite panels was responsible for the fire spreading alarmingly rapidly up the exterior of The Address.  Composite panels are made of a thin outer metal skin of steel or aluminum and cores of insulating material, which historically have included combustible materials such as expanded polystyrene (EPS) or polyurethane (PUR), but the Dubai fires involved polyethylene (LDPE) cores.

   To date there has not been a fatality of a building occupant in the UK associated with composite panels, [1] although 2 firefighters have died.  Neither has there been any fatality in the major cladding fires in Dubai.  Up to now the occupants have had time to escape, albeit with firefighter assistance in several instances, and escape procedures appear to have operated successfully.  This should not be any cause for complacency.  All of the major fires have had the potential for loss of life.

   2. What are the risks?

   The mechanisms of external fire spread

   Ignition of composite panels, even those with combustible cores, is not usually instantaneous, but there are various core materials used and they have very different ignition properties.  The early stages of fire development are relatively slow.  It is only in well-developed fires that the combustible cores burn with savage intensity.  However, polymeric core materials such as EPS and PUR will burn at temperatures well below that of a fully developed fire and thus contribute to fire spread.

   There is a risk in fire conditions that composite panels are attacked at the joints, or the panels suddenly delaminate and the metal facing falls away, thus exposing the combustible core which then intensifies and spreads the fire.  The sudden increase in fire severity can accelerate the failure of the adjacent panels, so that if a fire does take hold, it can race up or through an entire facade of a building, causing a major hazard to occupants and a major property loss.  Foam cores exposed through damage, fixings or penetrations will ignite sooner than intact panels.  Aluminum has a much lower melting temperature than steel and aluminum facings will fail earlier.

   Delaminated panels can fall off the building, raining down hot metal and burning foam insulation on the surrounding area, with risk of personal injury and of starting secondary fires.  In The Address fire, a strong wind blew some of the fiercest flames away from the building, but burning panels drifted up to a street block away and ignited secondary fires on adjacent roofs, despite the fire service’s rapid attendance and their hosing down rooftops from tall aerial platforms.

   The mechanisms of external fire spread are succinctly summarised by the author of UK Building Research Establishment (BRE) report BR 135 (see below):

   ○ MPs demand Grenfell Tower answers in sombre Parliament meeting | Sky News |
   ○ MPs demand help for terrified high-rise residents after London fire | The Guardian |

   On Sky News, the material used as cladding was put through a laboratory proof at 700 degrees Centigrade. After 2 minutes the isolation melted and immediately combusted into flames. Through cavities in the walling with cladding, flames are poised for oxygen and shoots higher in a matter of minutes jumping floors and burn inward.

   • 

     Oui on June 15, 2017 at 6:51 pm

     London fire: Grenfell Tower cladding ‘linked to other fires’ | BBC News |

     The work also included the installation of new cladding – consisting of two aluminium sheets with a polyethylene core.
     However, experts have told Newsnight that cladding with a mineral core is considered to be less flammable.

     Newsnight policy editor Chris Cook said the cladding used on Grenfell Tower was sold under the brand Reynobond.

     He said manufacturers offer two different versions of the cladding – one with a plastic core and one with a mineral core. He said he understood cladding with a plastic core was used in the west London tower.

     Test EN 13501-1 (Europe)

     The European fire certification EN 13501-1 is the most complete test when it comes to fire. When other tests do not take into account major factors, the European fire certification EN 13501-1 does.

     This test serves as the standard of evaluation for the reaction to fi re of construction and building materials. It measures five main characteristics: inflammability, combustibility, fire spread, smoke development and droplets.

     Please note that Reynobond®, Reynolux® and Reynodual® aluminium composite panels and sheets are used for cladding and finishing elements and are not structural products, therefore they are not submitted to fire reaction performance, which gives a duration.

     • 

       The Voice In The Wilderness on June 15, 2017 at 7:13 pm

       As I said above. Fiberglass will not burn. Steel will burn but it takes a lot more heat to make it burn than aluminum.

   • 

     Oui on June 16, 2017 at 9:01 am

     Cladding for Grenfell Tower was cheaper, more flammable option | The Guardian |

     Material used in the cladding that covered the Grenfell Tower was the cheaper, more flammable version of the two available options, an investigation of the supply chain has confirmed.

     Omnis Exteriors manufactured the aluminium composite material (ACM) used in the cladding, a director, John Cowley, confirmed to the Guardian.

     He also said Omnis had been asked to supply Reynobond PE cladding, which is £2 cheaper per square metre than the alternative Reynobond FR, which stands for “fire resistant”.

      « click for more info »

     “We supplied components for a system created by the design and build team on that project,” said Cowley.

     Harley Facades confirmed it had installed the panels bought from Omnis in the work it performed on Grenfell Tower. Omnis sold ACM cladding to Harley Facades, which was responsible for installing it.

     Construction firm Rydon Maintenance was the lead contractor on the project but sub-contracted elements of the work to smaller companies, including Harley.

     The supply chain was revealed in filings at Companies House that reveal CEP Architectural Facades – which has since been bought by the Worcester-based Omnis – was a supplier to Harley Facades’ sister company, Harley Curtain Wall.

     CEP’s name appears on a list of firms that were owed money when Harley Curtain Wall collapsed into administration in 2015.

     CEP is owned by Omnis Exteriors, which describes itself as a “leading UK manufacturer and supplier of exterior building products and systems”.

     Its website states: “With almost 400 multi-storey projects completed, you know that you are in good hands.”

     ○ ACM panels are banned in American high-rise buildings for fire safety reasons

5. 

   Oui on June 18, 2017 at 2:42 am

   ○ Here’s the difference between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May’s visits to Grenfell Tower

   ‘Jail those responsible’: how Grenfell Tower residents’ grief turned to rage

   By 4am on Wednesday, three hours after the fire started, Grenfell Tower was a hellish sight: flames poured from all sides of the 24-storey tower block under billowing smoke and charred debris fell from the upper storeys.

   On the streets and estates below the tower, the entire neighbourhood seemed to be out, many in their pyjamas and dressing gowns, mesmerised by the horror and trying to shout to people still visible in the windows.

   In the hours and days that followed, anger that such a tragedy could have happened mingled with chaos on the streets of north Kensington, as a close-knit community attempted to compensate for an apparent vacuum of official information or support.

   The tower was an “accident waiting to happen”, said a man that night who asked not to be named, wearing everything he now owned and wrapped in a blanket. “For years they’ve abused our community.”

   Firefighters and the emergency services worked tirelessly to save lives but from the start there was a striking absence of official coordination on the ground. Local churches and community centres threw open their doors. By 6am, five hours after the fire took hold, at least three centres were taking people in, but news spread by word of mouth rather than through official channels.

   At the Rugby Portobello Trust on Walmer Road, knots of dazed people filled the street. Some had escaped from the tower with only the clothes they stood in, while others frantically searched for family and friends. They described speaking to relatives who had been told to stay in their flats, and who were no longer answering their phones.

   Amid the shock and desperation, there was immediate anger: anger that the residents’ fears had been ignored, and that even at 6am it appeared there were no officials present, nobody from the council or the landlord – the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO).

   Theresa May did not speak to us, angry resident tells Jeremy Corbyn

   ○ Complex chain of companies that worked on Grenfell Tower raises oversight concerns
   ○ How a specialist firm won the deal to refurbish Grenfell Tower

   Couple whose company was paid £3m for cladding refurb at Grenfell Tower are holed up at their £1m mansion

   Raymond and Belinda Bailey were director and secretary of Harley Curtain Wall, responsible for a £3million cladding project at the block of flats.

   The business went bust in 2015, shortly after the work, owing creditors more than £1million. It was bought by another of Mr Bailey’s firms, Harley Facades, based in East Sussex.

   The businessman, 58, boasts of more than 25 years “practical experience” as a specialist curtain walling contractor. At their home yesterday Mrs Bailey, 56, denied any knowledge of Harley Curtain Wall or its work at Grenfell Tower.

   Bosses of company that installed Grenfell Tower cladding ‘pumped £2.5m into tax avoidance schemes’

   The bosses of the company that installed Grenfell Tower’s allegedly deadly cladding was accused by HMRC of pumping £2.5million into tax avoidance schemes, MailOnline can reveal today.

   Ray Bailey and his wife Belinda were director and secretary of Harley Curtain Wall, which went bust in 2015 allegedly owing creditors £1.1million.

   Despite being liquidated with significant debts it was later bought by Harley Facades Ltd., Mr Bailey’s other firm, who did the Grenfell Tower job in a contract valued at £2.6 million.

6. 

   Oui on June 21, 2017 at 6:01 pm

   ○ Grenfell Tower Regeneration Plan – 2012

   Factcheck: Grenfell Tower fire and the Daily Mail’s `green targets’ claim

   It is only on page 10 when it then gives more information about “Climate change and energy”. It says “the role that planning can play in achieving more sustainable development is at the heart of the National Planning Policy Framework [NPPF]”, adding that the London Plan (the Mayor of London’s “strategic planning” guidance) “sets out overall targets for CO2 emissions and how the planning system can promote their achievement”.

   …
   The Daily Mail, which has long pursued an anti-climate agenda in its comment pages, also tries to reinforce Clark’s article further with an editorial on page 16.

   Wihin an hour I pointed to cladding as the likely culprit of the unusual inferno engulfing Grenfell Tower and the cause of dozens of residents trapped on the upper floors.

   ○ Devastating Fire Engulfs West London Tower – 120 Flats

   Earlier I experienced the result of British foot dragging to improve health issues due to pollution. Cameron and May mentioned the EU stringent laws as a good reason to exit Europe. Good riddance!  

   ○ Solving Pollution Problem in England: ‘Under the Carpet!’