A residential tower was evacuated after a fire engulfed the entire building in East London yesterday. Some 40 fire engines and around 225 firefighters tackled the blaze at the building, which was known by the London Fire Brigade to have numerous fire safety issues.

The whole of the building was affected by the fire, including scaffolding surrounding the property, and the roof. A full, simultaneous evacuation of the building was carried out immediately, followed by a significant search and rescue operation, with all of the apartment’s residents accounted for.

“More than 80 people were evacuated with firefighters leading residents out to safety and carrying out 20 rescues,” said London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe. “This included using fire escape hoods, which can provide 15 minutes of clean, filtered air in smoke-filled environments, helping individuals stay safe until they can be rescued or reach safety. Four people were treated on scene by London Ambulance Service crews, with two taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.”

At this stage, the cause of the fire is still unknown, but the building was known to have defects, and is believed to have been in the process of remediation.

“We have commenced a full and detailed investigation into the cause of this fire, and we are working closely with police colleagues,” Roe added. “However, due to the extensive damage to the building with parts of it now being declared unsafe, access may be limited. This will be a protracted investigation and our fire investigation and fire safety officers are likely to be on scene for several days. We know there will undoubtedly be concerns around potential fire safety issues, and this investigation will be a priority for our officers over the coming weeks.”

Ben Randall, underwriting manager at MGA, Collegiate Underwriting, said this latest fire is yet another reminder of the huge outstanding fire safety problems still facing tall residential buildings in the UK, many years after the Grenfell disaster.

“The horror of the Grenfell Tower disaster was over seven years ago. There can be a tendency to think the problems that were highlighted have all been resolved but this is far from the case. A large proportion of the affected buildings are yet to be remediated leaving thousands of people facing these risks every day.

“It would be easy to assume that, since Grenfell and the regulatory changes that followed, all the existing fire safety defects have been identified and Professional Indemnity (PI) insurers notified of the failings. This has not been our experience; we are still seeing a steady influx of new notifications regarding building fire safety defects.”

The Brigade was called at 02:44 and the fire was under control by 11:13. Fire crews from Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking and surrounding fire stations attended the scene. The major incident was stood down at 11:03.

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