Investigations are underway after fire engulfed a block of flats in Dagenham in the early hours of 26 August 2024, with the London Fire Brigade (LFB) declaring a “major incident”
Control officers took 16 calls regarding the incident just before 2.45 am, with LFB confirming that the first crew arrived at the scene “within five minutes” followed by a second crew that arrived “within six minutes”.
In total, 40 fire appliances and 225 firefighters tackled the blaze at the seven-storey mixed-use residential and commercial premises, which affected the “whole of the building”, including scaffolding surrounding the property and the roof.
LFB Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne told reporters: “The fire is producing heavy smoke. We’re asking local residents to keep their windows and doors closed for the time being… we’re asking people to avoid the area where possible.”
In a social media post, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Angela Rayner MP said: “Our thoughts are with all those affected by the fire in Dagenham at this very difficult time.
“We are in close contact with the London Fire Brigade, council, and other agencies on the ground to ensure those affected are being looked after.”
The Brigade stated that 80 people were evacuated from the building, with firefighters leading residents out to safety and carrying out 20 rescues:
“I am pleased to confirm that everyone has been accounted for,” London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said.
"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 took place,” he said.
Fire crews from Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking, and surrounding fire stations attended the scene, and firefighters used fire escape hoods to help with the rescue effort. The London Ambulance Service treated four people at the scene, and two were taken to hospital. Crews also utilised drones and 64-metre and 32-metre turntable ladders as water towers and to provide incident commanders with a “vantage point for assessing the scene”.
Commissioner Roe said: “To allow us to focus our resources on the incident, we declared a major incident, which has now been stood down. I am immensely grateful to the crews and officers who have operated in the most dangerous conditions to both rescue people and bring the incident under control despite being faced with a significant building failure.”
LFB has since been carrying out a “full investigation into the fire and its cause”.
“This was a very dynamic and challenging incident, and we know there will undoubtedly be concerns around the fire safety issues present within the building and this will form part of our report,” the Brigade added.
As reported by BBC News, a planning application from 2023 shows that work to be carried out at the building had been approved. This includes “remedial work to external cladding to the fifth and sixth floors comprising of the removal of existing non-compliant cladding and replacing with compliant cladding, and the removal of all window solid spandrel panels and balcony privacy screens and replacing with compliant solid panels.”
The incident has led to numerous concerns over the safety of lived-in residential buildings undergoing remediation work. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), one resident said: “Last night, there was a fire at my apartment in Dagenham, London. It was a horrific experience, with thick smoke and flames everywhere. Appreciate the emergency responders and all the support from friends and neighbours.”
In a statement, the general secretary for the Fire Brigades Union, Matt Wrack said: “Once again, a fire has erupted in a residential building wrapped in flammable cladding. There needs to be an urgent and swift investigation of how this has been allowed to happen.
“Hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in buildings like it, with various failings in fire safety. This is a national scandal.”
Campaign group Grenfell United also released a statement following Monday’s fire: “Although we do not have all the details, it seems work was underway to remove non-compliant cladding, and the building had a number of fire safety issues. This highlights the painfully slow progress of remediation across the country, and a lack of urgency for building safety as a whole, including the implementation of personal evacuation plans for disabled residents which urgently needs addressing.
“We are a week away from the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report. The fact that when a fire happens, and the best we can hope for at the moment is ‘a near miss’, speaks volumes of the progress made since 14th June 2017.”
(Photograph by the London Fire Brigade)