Lessons should have been learned from previous roof fire

[messy]

About 12 years ago, following a serious fire (20PF) with multiple ladder rescues from vertical 135s (from 5th floor), a west London Council said they'd do all they could to stop it happening again.

In particular, comments were made as the poor fire separation between the dwellings and the timber roof which had been added to overcome various problems with the blocks orginal flat roof. There were also concerns that the roof created a huge common void. A whole estate in Southall had the similar pitched roof addedd on as a fix.

Last night, an identical fire. This time a 15pf in a neighbouring block. I'm saying nothing, but you might want to after you see the video

http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/video/localvideo/44575/

[John Webb]

Messy,
Was the previous one in the Harrow area? Walls of blocks clad with glass-fibre panels, pitched roof added to overcome flat roof problems? Just that I visited one of that description about that long ago .... and the same thought crossed my mind on seeing the broadcast video on the news today.

[messy]

John

No. I know the one you are talking about. That was on an estate in the Rayners Lane area of Harrow about 8 miles from this one and was a nightmare as crews just couldn't get to the fire.

The previous job I was referring to was about 200m from the recent one on the same Golf Links Estate in Southall. It too had be re roofed with a similar pitched design, and appears to have suffered an identical fate (despite promises from the council to install firestopping etc

[John Webb]

From what I've seen of these fires the 'fire-stopping' is never complete in the roof space.  The stopping is usually some form of supported material, and once the pitched roof is in place it's virtually impossible to ensure a complete installation, particularly in the lower corners of the roof,  due to access problems.

In my opinion you are better off with a block wall built as soon as the roof trusses are in place.
(This is supported by a fire I saw in the early 1980s in a 1940s block of LCC flats near my parents in SE London - there was a 9inch brick wall halfway along the roof which stopped the fire dead and prevented it reaching another three flats on the top floor via the roof void.)

[netfire]

It seems that the roof was made from a highly flammable roof. They should check the wood structure before using it as their roofing materials. Fire is not easy to fight if it is growing in woods.

[kurnal]

Comments noted and appropriate action taken.

[CivvyFSO]

Heh, I like these posters. They speak more sense than half of you lot sometimes.

[Golden]

Its a superb observation - a bit like when many of us were saying that the banks shouldn't lend money to people who haven't got a chance of paying it back!