Yesterday's fire in Elm Road, Wembley Central
From the Fire Brigades Union
At least 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines were called to a cladding fire in Wembley yesterday, 29 January.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:
Firefighters have once again been called to cladding fire which could have resulted in tragedy.
The Fire Brigades Union warned of the risks of flammable cladding many years before the terrible Grenfell Tower fire. Decades of deregulation have created unnecessary risks to residents and firefighters, and put homes and lives at risk.
Government ministers and building companies have been criminally complacent. We will continue to demand justice for the victims of this situation, and urgent action to ensure that buildings are safe.
Our worst fears have happened. The nightmare that residents have been living with has become a reality.Octavia Housing, who manage the block, were repeatedly warned this could happen. Yet they sat on their hands and did nothing. This will be traumatic for all the residents who live in Elm Road.
Six years on from Grenfell, three years on from being advised the cladding was unsafe, Octavia has done nothing to remove the cladding or even make any attempt to advise residents trapped in their small flats when the work would commence or who would pay for it.
Octavia responded to me in December and said they were unable to share any information on the fire safety reports on the advice of their solicitors
On Twitter Peter Apps commented:
Brent Council have a statutory duty to publish a safety case report for all the 41 buildings in scope of the Fire Safety Act by the 6th April 2024.
