London Tower Fire, At Least 12 Dead. (update - 55 missing..presumed dead)

[Denzil_DC]

16. Here:

Baird, who advises seven major housing groups on fire safety, said the principles of the policy are based on flats that contain a fire for at least 60 minutes, sometimes up to three hours, before the fire service arrives.

However, he said this “60-minute box” principle could go out of the window if major refurbishment works have taken place.

“If it’s your flat that’s on fire you evacuate, if it’s not your flat then you’re ‘normally’ safe to remain where you are,” he said. “The thing that conflicts with that is if there’s been some refurbishment work done and that has altered that compartmentation.”

Baird said major refurbishments could leave a building “like swiss cheese”, full of holes that would accelerate the spread of the blaze.

“If there’s evidence that the floors may have been reconfigured, heating systems may have gone in and external cladding has been fitted – that changes the parameters [of the advice to stay put],” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/jun/14/grenfell-tower-major-fire-london-apartment-block-white-city-latimer-road?page=with:block-5941358ce4b014a733d62214#block-5941358ce4b014a733d62214
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And:

Link to tweet

Peter Apps

@PeteApps

New from @lukewbarratt: Refurb of #GrenfellTower involved temporary removal of fire protections between floors http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/business/asset-management/fire-safeguards-in-grenfell-were-temporarily-removed-during-refurbishment/7020464.article …

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fire safeguards in Grenfell were temporarily removed during refurbishment

Safeguards intended to prevent the spread of fire from floor to floor were temporarily removed from Grenfell Tower during a refurbishment, according to documents from the planning application.

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/business/asset-management/fire-safeguards-in-grenfell-were-temporarily-removed-during-refurbishment/7020464.article (full article's paywalled, hence the Twitter link, but I imagine the other media will catch up soon enough).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------