London high rise apartment building engulfed in flames early in the morning (March, terror)
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According to Sky News, there were emergency signs in the building that told residents to stay in their apartment in case of fire, unless it affected their own unit.
This reminds me of Our Lady of the Angels fire in 1958 in Chicago, when the nuns told the students to remain seated and pray. 92 children and three nuns died.
Some companies were giving the same instruction during 9/11. The ones who disobeyed made it out okay.
My heart goes out to the people of London and all those affected.
Makes me grateful for the current code which states at least 2 means of egress. Didnt know buildings like that could burn. Most tall buildings are steel and concrete.
I can't help but think, what if terrorists were involved. It would not be that hard for a small group of terrorists to pick a floor in an apartment building in the wee hours of the morning, spread gasoline in the hallways then lock the doors to the stairs so people couldn't escape. The terrorists would then take the elevator down and disable that.
We really are at their mercy.
It is amazing that there are only 6 dead and 20 injured in this blaze.
They are saying it might have been a faulty fridge.
These kinds of tower blocks are usually chock full of 3rd world immigrants (many times, significantly Muslim)... so I'm not sure what type of message it would send in Britain.
(Of course, ISIS routinely targets Muslims in their own countries, so who knows anymore)
Makes me grateful for the current code which states at least 2 means of egress. Didnt know buildings like that could burn. Most tall buildings are steel and concrete.
Most of the 1960's and indeed 1970's social housing tower blocks have now been demolished, sadly these tower blocks were run by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTO) on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Social Housing is the eqivalent of what Americans call 'the projects', and it seems despite allegedly numerous warnings and incidents no action was taken.
There will of course be an inquiry, and the KTCO and the Council will face numerous questions, however it is too little too late.
I can't help but think, what if terrorists were involved. It would not be that hard for a small group of terrorists to pick a floor in an apartment building in the wee hours of the morning, spread gasoline in the hallways then lock the doors to the stairs so people couldn't escape. The terrorists would then take the elevator down and disable that.
We really are at their mercy.
It is amazing that there are only 6 dead and 20 injured in this blaze.
I think the deal is they are anticipating finding more that have died. That's all that is confirmed right now. They will have issues accessing the building because it is unstable. It will take time to confirm exact numbers
AND -- so far it is being said that this building was in poor repair. No terrorist link.
Its political in the sense that local government were supposed to take care of the building which was a death trap and residents had warned the local council that this kind of event was bound to happen because the building was in such poor condition. They renovated the building recently but only cosmetically (e.g. the cladding) and nothing was done about the fire alarm system, lack of fire escapes etc. They just wanted to make it look nicer on the outside so the people in the expensive private buildings nearby didn't have to look at a crumbling council property.
Last I heard its believed that the fire was caused by a faulty fridge on the 4th floor. It most likely was Muslims being awake to break fast (as it's Ramadan) that meant the alarm was raised so that some people could escape but many in the higher floors didn't, most likely due to the advice to stay put.
Its not suspicious that the fire spread so quickly it was expected because the building was in such poor shape. No reason to suspect terrorism. No reports of people being locked in either, they were sadly advised to stay in their flats and many tried to leave but the smoke was too bad.
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Big Fire in London high rise... terrorists?
