On Tuesday 6 May, London Fire Brigade (LFB) received 30 calls regarding a fire that had broken out in a block of flats at New Providence Wharf, Poplar in East London
Responding with 60 firefighters and eight fire appliances, including crews from Poplar, Millwall, Plaistow, Shadwell, and surrounding fire stations, along with a fire rescue unit and 32-metre turntable ladder, the firefighters took half an hour to bring the blaze under control, but not before the 150 residents had evacuated the building.
According to LFB’s Assistant Commissioner, Pam Oparaocha said: “This building has known fire safety issues and control measures are in place in the event of a fire. Once it became apparent there was a fire, on-site staff took the correct course of action and carried out a swift evacuation of around 150 people from the building before firefighters arrived.”
“Firefighters worked quickly and professionally to bring this incident to a safe conclusion.
“The first crews were on scene within three minutes. Due to the volume of calls being received, as the fire was very visible, three further appliances were sent before the initial Incident Commander requested further resources following an assessment of the situation.
“Thanks to quick and decisive actions by firefighters, the damage from the fire was restricted to the flat’s balcony and a door leading out on to it, with the fire brought under control within 25 minutes of arrival.”
This incident was the third fire at the New Providence Wharf site in four years, with other flat fires taking place in 2019 and again in August 2024. Noting this, Oparaocha said:
“Whilst significant improvements have been made to this building since the large fire that occurred in May 2021, and this was evident during yesterday’s incident, we continue to work closely with the responsible persons to ensure that the safety of residents remains a priority.”
As reported by The Standard, the development is home to 1,535 flats and the developers, Ballymore, confirmed that remediation works had been undertaken on the building in question, and all ACM cladding had been removed from the site in 2021.
The developers also issued a statement saying: “The safety of residents is our priority. BAML personnel were quickly on site to assist residents, and the building’s fire safety systems activated quickly, effectively, and as designed.”
As a result of this most recent incident, three people were taken to hospital by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service. Their conditions were not thought to be serious.
The cause of the fire is not yet known but is believed to have been started by a cigarette alighting furniture on an external balcony. After the fire was extinguished, the Incident Commander spoke to residents and answered any questions they had about the incident.
Image: By Paul W - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107447173