London tower block fire: Flames engulf Grenfell Tower - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40269625

Never seen anything like that before

Pretty horrendous footage from the height of the fire. Looked like the majority of the building was aflame.
Looks like plenty of people were able to get out but the death toll remains to be seen.

Sadly very common in Dubai http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31562099


The building was refurbished and overclad with aluminium insulated panels. There seems to have been a number of failures in the re-design

Bloody hell, those are some mad photos.

They were interviewing someone on the BBC News who seemed to think that a combination of the original fluting in the concrete of the tower, plus the new aluminium cladding created a chimney which drew the flames up very rapidly. It’s clearly someone’s speculation at this point - there’s clearly going to be an investigation which will hopefully look at any structural and cosmetic improvements. Slapping aluminium cladding on older buildings to make them look new seems to be thing at the moment.

Saw this. Sad to hear what's happened. Condolences to those who have lost loved ones.

Really surprised to hear reports of sprinkler systems not working, issues around safety that had been raised and especially after a refit. If other blocks have been "revamped" in the same way, there needs to be action taken to prevent another devastation.

Very little scrutiny goes on for these types of reclad. A lot of people spend time " interpreting" guidance to get out of any expensive measures.
I wonder if someone was storing flammables in one of the flats though.

A few reports of "exploding fridge" though it is the Wail and therefore probably unreliable.

I've been reading about the 'stay put' advice.
[LIFTED] that! If I was in a flat above the fire, I'd be down the emergency stairs quicker than greased lightning.

apparently the emergency stairs were blocked ...

It's now been confirmed the cladding that caught fire is a very similar product to the one from the Dubai fires https://www.arconic.com/aap/europe/en/p ... at_id=1843 . This [LIFTED] should be banned

In Germany it IS illegal to use flammable cladding on a tower block.

I also heard, that there was no networked fire alarm system in the building? That is also in the building code over here for multi-tenant buildings - for single family building (detached, semi-detached and terrace houses, bungalows etc.) there needs to be an alarm in every room, except the kitchen and bathroom, but they don't need to be networked, it is just recommended.

It is also law, that tower blocks need an isolated fire brigade lift, which will work when the place is burning (and not crispy critter the fire officers), so they can reach higher floors and rescue people / tackle a blaze at levels higher than the ladders and hydraulics outside can reach.

There is probably more, but those were the main ones mentioned in the news last night, to try and mollify viewers living and working in tower blocks in Germany.

That said, I couldn't even imagine living in such a place. I've always lived in a house of some sort, the biggest building with flats I lived in was 3 stories, with 3 flats in it. I visited a friend in the old East Germany and she lived in a flat in a block with 6 levels and, spread down the street, over 100 flats. After 2 days staying there, I felt really uncomfortable, with so many other people in close proximity.

Here, materials of " limited combustibility " are allowed. The issue will be in the detailing and fire stopping

It was claimed by Tory MP Tobias Ellwood on QuestionTime last night that the reason Theresa May didn’t want to visit the affected community was due to “security issues”.

Today, the Queen turned up. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40298473

I do wonder if May has some condition that makes her unable to cope with people in uncontrolled situations. I say this because I recognise this trait in myself. If things start going “off plan,” I kind of start to feel very unsettled.

While I have a certain degree of sympathy if that is the case she should have realised, or the people who know and care about her should have told her, that being the PM will involve meeting people who aren't necessarily going to be nice and tame all the time. She's either deluded, very badly advised or so arrogant that she thought she could get away with it. In any case, it further underscores he unsuitability to be the PM.
Also, blaming security issues paints a pretty crappy view of the security officers charged with protecting her - it suggests she doesn't have the confidence in them to provide adequate protection.