Families who fled from a burning tower block in the early hours of this morning have spoken of their fury after Grenfell Tower-style cladding had not been removed from the building.
Some 40 fire engines and 225 firefighters have been battling the fire on Freshwater Road in Dagenham, east London, which saw more than 80 people evacuated in the middle of the night and two people taken to hospital.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB), which was called at 2.44am, declared a major incident after the ground floor, roof and parts of the scaffolding surrounding the building, were set alight. The major incident was stood down just after 12.30pm.
Four patients were treated at the scene by the London Ambulance Service, two of whom were taken to hospital. 20 people were saved during a ‘significant search and rescue operation’ and everyone has now been accounted for.
Those who fled the building have told of being woken up to ‘piercing screams’ as huge flames ripped through the residential and commercial building. Barefoot residents, including children, were seen fleeing the building wrapped in sheets.
The cause of the blaze, which saw thick plumes of smoke billow into the sky, is not yet known. Some residents on the sixth floor claimed that they did not hear any fire alarm go off. Others in the block said they did not see water sprinklers.
The tower block, called Spectrum House, has a ‘number of fire safety issues known to London Fire Brigade’. Work was also underway to remove ‘non-compliant cladding’ on the building, which is why it was covered in scaffolding.
Valcan, a non-combustible cladding supplier, posted on Facebook six days ago that it had ‘popped over to Dagenham’ to check on the progress of ‘remedial work to external cladding to the fifth and sixth floors’ and ‘removing the non-compliant cladding’. A planning application to carry out this work was approved on July 3 2023.
Questions around the role of cladding in the fire will ‘form part’ of the investigation into the incident, LFB has said.
When asked by reporters at the scene ‘how big a part did cladding play’ in the fire, and how close the incident was to a ‘bigger disaster’, Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne said: ‘What I wouldn’t want to do is pre-empt an investigation.
‘This was a very, very dynamic incident, and clearly it’s going to require a very complex investigation, not only to get to its cause, but to get to an understanding of the fire spread – so it’s it’s too early at this time to be able to give any detail on that, but that will form part of our investigation in the coming days.’
When asked about whether the fire alarms went off, he added: ‘The state of the fire alarm or whether it was actuating is part of the investigation. And its too early, but the fire investigation team are looking at the actuation of the fire alarm and information from residents as part of our investigation.
Cladding is typically fitted to the outside of high-rise buildings to improve their insulation and appearance. But since the Grenfell tragedy seven years ago, campaigners have been calling for the Government to fix Britain’s building safety crisis by replacing unsafe cladding.
In June 2017, a fire ripped through Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey high-rise in west London, killing 72 people, with the blaze spreading rapidly allegedly due to the cladding on the block’s outside walls. A public inquiry into the disaster is still ongoing.
Grenfell United, a group of survivors and bereaved families from the disaster, posted on X: ‘Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the fire in Dagenham this morning, we hope all residents are safe and adequately cared for by the authorities.’
Families who fled from the burning block of flats in the early hours of this morning spoke of their anger today.
Adding to local fury is the fact that the block had no sprinkler system nor any working communal smoke alarms in the corridors of the six-storey building.
Civil servant Emmanuelle Perraud, 54, escaped her third floor flat with 17-year-old daughter Maliha Baig, 17 and sister Alexandra Perraud, 56.
She said: ‘I’m angry and concerned that the cladding hadn’t been removed faster because the plans were in place to do so last summer and it’s taken nearly nine-months for them to start taking it down as we’ve had scaffolding around the building since January.
‘The residents complained about it being there because we all remember what happened with Grenfell Tower. Whether it was a factor in this fire, we don’t know yet but it should’ve been removed long ago.
‘I woke up around 2.30am this morning because I could hear people shouting outside.
‘I looked out the window and there was a lot of smoke. I knew we had to get out quickly.
‘My sister was staying with me so I woke her and my teenage daughter and headed out.
‘But when I opened my front door the whole corridor was engulfed in thick smoke, which then drifted into my flat.
‘At no point did I hear any smoke alarm in the corridor – the only one that went off was the small battery-operated one I have in my kitchen – and there was no sprinkler system in the building either.
‘None of us could see a thing and we couldn’t breathe which was the scariest thing. My daughter and I inhaled some of the smoke which was really unpleasant.
‘Fortunately, there was little smoke in the fire escape so we were able to get to the ground floor and out of the block. But we were one of the last residents to escape as there was a crowd of people gathered outside along with fire crews, police and ambulances.
‘We stood watching the building burn for about three hours before we were put in buses and taken to a shelter.’
Ms Perraud and her family were evacuated to the nearby Becontree Health Leisure Centre with other residents.
Clutching a small bag of items handed out by the Red Cross, including towels, soap, a bottle of water and a wash bag, she added: ‘It is fortunate that nobody was seriously hurt or killed but there’s some 60-flats in the block and nobody knows where or when we’re all going to be re-homed.
‘None of us know how bad the damage is to our homes or what’s happened to all our possessions.’
Ms Perraud’s sister, Alexandra, came to visit on Friday from her flat in Purley, South London.
She said: ‘We had about two and a half minutes to get out. I didn’t panic because I’ve been evacuated from my flat twice due to fire. In fact for me this morning was a case of deja vu.
‘I was evacuated from my flat in Purley when a fire broke out only a month ago. It followed a previous fire in 2021.
‘After the first fire, a sprinkler system and communal smoke alarms were fitted and regular safety checks were made.
‘I didn’t see any of that here in what is a more modern block of flats. I was really shocked by that and the fact that the cladding had still to be removed completely.’
Dal Singh, 35, raced home from her night shift at a pharmaceuticals factory after being called by worried husband Balvinder, 38.
He managed to flee their home with the couple’s nine-year-old daughter.
Ms Singh told : ‘The only reason they escaped is because my husband woke up in the early hours to use the bathroom.
‘He smelled smoke and initially dismissed it as coming from the roadworks outside but the smell was growing stronger and stronger.
‘He went to the window and saw a huge cloud of smoke billowing from the building so rushed to get our daughter up and then went outside into the landing and despite the choking smoke, he banged on the doors of neighbours alerting them.
‘No smoke alarms in the communal areas went off apparently. Had my husband not woken up when he did, I dread to think what could’ve happened.
‘When I came home, he and my daughter were already outside and the block was by then well alight.
‘I’ve had no sleep. I’m absolutely shattered.
‘We only moved in in June but the upkeep of the flats hasn’t been great. There’s been scaffolding around the block for months.
‘That’s to get rid of the cladding on the outside of the building but I’m furious that it hasn’t been taken down months or even years ago, given what we know about how flammable it can be.’
Vasu Mabudura 28 and wife Rashmi Gupta, 27, fled from their fifth-floor flat and are now planning on staying with a friend at his house.
Mr Mabudura saw the blaze from his window and said: ‘We got out as quickly as we could.
‘What caused it we don’t know. There was smoke coming from the top and ground floor.
‘Some of the cladding – which was supposed to have been cleared – is still up and the fact that its removal had been delayed is annoying because it’s potentially very dangerous.’
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said the LFB had this morning declared a major incident in Dagenham to allow the service to focus its resources on the fire.
He continued: ‘The building has a number of fire safety issues known to London Fire Brigade.
‘A full simultaneous evacuation of the building was immediately carried out and a significant search and rescue operation is under way.
‘The Brigade has stood up full strategic arrangements to deal with the incident and a rest centre has been set up at Beacontree Health and Leisure Centre.
‘LFB officers are stationed at the rest centre to support residents.’
New drones were deployed to tackle the blaze, along with 64-metre and 32-metre turntable ladders that are being used as vantage points to assess the scene and to douse the flames with water from above, Mr Roe said.
Others who fled in the early hours also told of their dramatic escapes.
Martin Perry-Taylor, 44, described smoke engulfing the building with ‘piercing screams’ waking him up.
He said: ‘It was madness. I woke to all this screaming and alarms and just chaos.
‘It was dreadful. There were piercing screams. Smoke was everywhere.
‘It was unreal. I got out straight away and there was just mayhem with people fleeing and getting out. It was my worst nightmare.’
Another said: ‘I’m in a state of complete shock and disbelief. How an earth did this start?’
Dinesh Raj’s six-year-old daughter was having a sleepover with friends in the flats when the fire broke out.
He told Sky News: ‘I got a call around 3am, so I came and picked them up.
‘I managed to take my daughter and my friends to my home. They’re all safe. I think they started smelling smoke around 3am, and learned there was a fire.
‘They had a six-month baby as well, so they managed to grab the baby and my daughter and get out the building.
‘I think the majority [of residents] managed to step out before the fire started spreading.
‘But everything they have is back in the building and we have no clue what happened.’
Kaisa, who has lived in the building for six years, said she did not hear a fire alarm go off as she fled.
‘I got out of bed and looked out the window and I saw flames climbing up toward our balcony,’ she told Sky News.
‘I woke my partner and said there’s a fire it’s spreading quickly.’
She added: ‘There was no fire alarm, nothing went off, when we ran out the flats we just saw some neighbours, smoke coming out the door, we looked at each other, and said ‘are you okay?’ and tried to wake up a few others, but no fire alarms. Nothing.’
As she tried to knock on doors, Kasia said she ‘couldn’t hear one neighbour’ and added: ‘I hope they had gone away for the long weekend.’
Mohammed, another resident on the sixth floor, also told the broadcaster that he didn’t hear the fire alarm and left the building only with clothes on his back.
Block Management UK, who said they had taken over the management of Spectrum House in 2019, has been approached for comment by .
Ahmed, 44, of Kemp Road, which is a few hundred yards from the property, told the PA news agency: ‘When I woke up, I saw the fire engines, the helicopters and obviously the smoke everywhere. People were screaming.’
Sam Ogbeide, who lives on the fourth floor, told reporters: ‘I opened my main door, smoke was coming in from the window – I live at the back. I saw it (the fire). Very terrible, very terrible.
Mr Ogbeide said it was very busy in the building’s stairwell with fellow residents who ‘didn’t bring anything’ when evacuating, with some still ‘naked’.
He said: ‘I’ve never experienced something like this in my life. Everything is gone. I don’t know what to do.’
Asked if he felt OK, the resident added: ‘I’m not feeling OK. All my mouth is bitter because I feel the smoke in me.
‘When I cough, you see the black.’
The resident later told the PA news agency he did not see any water sprinklers in the building, but did hear a fire alarm.
Irina Vasile, 46, a healthcare assistant who lived on the second floor, said she was woken by her partner around 3am telling her there was smoke.
Speaking outside the Beacontree Heath Leisure Centre where the residents have been relocated, she told reporters: ‘(There was) such a dense smoke all over the apartment. When we wanted to open the window, another smoke hit our face, on the throat and the eyes.’
Ms Vasile said she was spotted by firefighters after shouting for help and calling 999.
She said: ‘We didn’t grab nothing – we lost everything. The firemen bring us outside, and while I came outside, I’ve seen a big fire come from the building on the ground floor, and when we went further, I’ve seen another big fire on the top.’
The resident said she did not hear a fire alarm go off during the evacuation.
She added: ‘My partner is devastated as well. We try to encourage one another because we lost everything. We are scared, frightened to be on the street starting from zero.’
Dagenham and Rainham MP Ms Mullane said on X: ‘Terrible scenes in Dagenham this morning as @LondonFire tackle the blaze at Freshwater Rd.
‘Thanks to their rapid response injury was minimal. I will be visiting the rescue centre today to see what help and support I can offer the residents and businesses who have lost everything.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper tweeted: ‘My thoughts are with all those affected by the major fire incident in Dagenham. I thank London Fire Brigade & all emergency services on the ground for their bravery and swift response. I and Home Office Ministers are receiving updates on the incident from operational partners.’
Jennifer Frame, from End Our Cladding Scandal, told : ‘First and foremost, while there is a significant search and rescue operation ongoing, the number one priority is that the residents affected by the major fire incident in Dagenham are all safe and well – and that they are given the support and answers that they need in the weeks and months ahead.
‘It is very concerning that this building was known to have had serious fire safety issues, including unsafe cladding which had still not been removed. Seven years after Grenfell, there are still many thousands of buildings across the country with life-critical fire safety defects and the pace of remediation has been shockingly slow.
‘Being ‘in negotiations’ about remediation or having ‘plans in place’ counts for little when dangerous cladding – or other construction defects that enable fire to spread rapidly – remain on people’s homes. Today’s incident demonstrates why action remains so urgent. Fire won’t wait while the legal and administrative battle rumbles on for years at each individual building.
‘Residents’ safety must be our number one priority, and we need to see the new government step in and urgently get a grip of the spiralling cladding and building safety crisis.’
Giles Grover, from the same campaign group, added: ‘As soon as you rely on any leaseholder for funding, that is going to delay the works.
‘It’s like the Post Office scandal, they are still trying to blame the victims and make them pay. Ultimately we want full protection for all our leaseholders, that’s our unwavering line.
‘From what we have seen online, the remediation in the Dagenham flat block was ongoing, with some of the work already being started, which means it could have been much worse.
‘Some of the most dangerous stuff looked like it had been removed but obviously you have still got thousands of buildings across the country where work has not even started yet.
‘With the Grenfell Tower inquiry report we hope that will be the starting point for the successive Government’s role in this mess will be uncovered.
‘We have said to ministers and to the many secretary of states we have met that fire does not wait and fire does not discriminate, but it’s up to the Labour Government to crack on and directly do something now, we have been warning them for so long.’
Station Commander Alan Bendell, who was at the scene of the Dagenham fire, said: ‘The fire is producing heavy smoke and we’re advising local residents to keep windows and doors closed.
‘Two of the Brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders are being used at the scene as aerial water towers to assist with tackling the fire from height.
‘Freshwater Road is closed to traffic, so please avoid the area where possible.’
Several ambulances are parked nearby to the blaze and an air ambulance was also dispatched.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 2:52am today (26 August) to reports of a fire on Freshwater Road in Dagenham.
‘We sent a large number of resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, incident response officers, an advanced paramedic in critical care, emergency planning officers, a command support vehicle and members of our hazardous area response team (HART).
‘We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.’
‘We treated four patients at the scene and took two of them to a hospital.’
Crews from Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking and surrounding fire stations are at the scene.
LFB is describing the property as a ‘mixed-used residential and commercial building’. The BBC reports that more than 100 people were evacuated.