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Huge fire engulfs west London tower block.
#21
Uh... huh .... accident .... suuuuuurrre .....  *dons flashy suit... climbs up on soapbox.... *  step right up boys an girls got a deal for you .... it slices... it dices... it makes bacon.... cures all illnesses .... sits on prime ocean front property in the gobi ..... all for the low.... low.... price of .......
Better to reign in hell ....
  than serve in heaven .....



#22
Somewhat related...

                               UK: All samples from high-rise towers fail fire safety tests


Quote:LONDON (AP) -- The list of high-rise apartment towers in Britain that have failed fire safety tests grew to 60, officials said Sunday, revealing the mounting challenge the government faces in the aftermath of London's Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.

All of the buildings for which external cladding samples were so far submitted failed combustibility tests, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said. As of late Sunday, that includes 60 towers from 25 different areas of the country— double the figure given a day earlier.

The number of buildings at risk is likely to grow as owners and local officials provide more samples for safety tests.
The national testing was ordered after an inferno engulfed Grenfell Tower in west London on June 14. The tower's cladding — panels widely used to insulate buildings and improve their appearance — was believed to have rapidly spread that blaze, which killed at least 79 people.

In north London, officials trying to avoid another fire disaster sought to complete the evacuation of hundreds of apartments in four towers deemed unsafe. They faced resistance as some 200 residents refused to budge.
Camden Council ordered residents from some 600 apartments at Chalcots Estate to evacuate late Friday as a precaution after fire inspectors found problems with the blocks' fire doors and gas pipes.

The council said residents must leave immediately because of those issues and because the towers were encased in similar cladding to the material used at Grenfell Tower.

Hundreds were put up in hotels and other temporary accommodation. The evacuees now face up to four weeks in limbo as workers try to upgrade the buildings' fire safety features. Council leader Georgia Gould said those still staying in their homes must leave for the renovations to begin.

Sayed Meah, 34, who lives with his mother and wife, said he would not move until the company that helps care for his mother agrees to provide service at a new location.

He said he and other residents are determined to remain in their apartments until a legal notice is obtained or they are "dragged out by their fingernails."

Refurbishment of the Chalcots towers was overseen by Rydon, the same company involved in the recent renovation of the now-devastated Grenfell Tower.

A public inquiry is due to determine how the unsafe cladding was allowed to be fitted onto Grenfell and other buildings in the first place.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan backed the Camden Council's decision to evacuate the apartment blocks.
"I think they've done the right thing. Look, you've got to err on the side of caution. You can't play Russian roulette with people's safety," Khan told Sky News.


Source
#23
(06-25-2017, 10:35 PM)Mystic Wanderer Wrote: Somewhat related...

                               UK: All samples from high-rise towers fail fire safety tests
Many of the main news outlets have been milking this for all it's worth and though a casual
reader may deem it as a mature concern of the UK authorities for the welfare of the occupants
of social housing, I think it's more a bandwagon for certain political parties to force the current
Government's hand in attempts to raise profiles.

The Labour Party can crow on about cost-cutting that effects the poor, but if I was Corbyn or
one of his gang, I'd be very careful. Many of these towers were built under a Labour Government
a long time ago, so he should check his facts before he starts in with his commie bullsh*t.

But look at it another way... just like an occupant of one of these high-rise buildings did on a news
programme on Saturday.

When any repairs are done to the apartments, the Council workers come in and fix, upgrade or
alter whatever needs doing. The occupants of the apartments aren't moved out and placed in
hotels or hostels during the repairs.

That's why many of the residents are refusing to move. What for...? the media focus is on the
cladding that's external and this material didn't cause the fire, it just allegedly assisted in spreading
it. 

It's agreed that the cause was from a fridge-freezer, yet the company that manufactures that particular
appliance haven't called that model in, they just issued a serial number to check by the owners if they're
concerned.

So why move all the residents out...? In my view, it's to look for something that may be in there that
shouldn't be. The tower-blocks have been there for many years and any pipework, electrical wiring and
other changes fall under the regulations that either the UK demand or the European Union deems
appropriate.

External gas pipes inside a room may seem hazardous at a glance, but the current regulations allow it and
after reading those regulations, it makes sense on many levels. Any pipework is placed in a high position
for the reason that it's more difficult to 'accidentally' damage the pipe.

Also, the height ensures any escaping gas is kept away from most electrical areas or flame.
External piping in a room is easier to access and if there's a leak, there's no build-up in a wall cavity that
may compound problems and lead to a possible explosion. These are rules Councils across the United
Kingdom adhere to and social housing isn't just about high-rise tenements.

Whole two-storey house estates are abundant across the country, where those who can't afford or prefer
not to pay a mortgage for a home, live in a Council-provided accommodation where a rent is paid.
Are they being moved out because of certain visible pipes...? No.

The cladding-matter is external and even if it's now deemed a fire risk, it is only a risk and it's been hanging
on the walls of these towers for many years.

Look at your own abode and think of the many dangers available when you get right down to it.
The electrical wires that are in the wall... could they come loose from the back of the socket?
A nail holding a picture-frame up, has it penetrated a water or gas pipe without your knowledge are slowly
seeping into the cavities and surrounding your home with peril?

Would you evacuate your house because of a 'maybe in the future' or would you just change it out?

Somebody is looking for something in these towers and this tragedy at Grenfell is a perfect excuse.
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe. 
#24
An excellent piece by Edward Littlejohn of The Daily Mail.

Quote:Awkward questions no one will answer about Grenfell Tower.

'We may never know precisely how many people perished in the gruesome Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.
The latest official figure is ‘at least’ 80, but officials admit that the death toll could be higher.
The main reason that we will almost certainly fail to reach a definitive total is because nobody seems to
have the faintest idea how many people were actually living there.

Originally, we were told the building contained 120 one and two-bedroomed flats, occupied by as many as
600 tenants. That was later revised to 129 flats, but without any exact number of residents.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=2119]


Police now say they have established who was in 106 of the flats on the night of the fire, either living there
full-time or visiting. But that still leaves 23 premises unaccounted for. 
On a rough estimate of five occupants per apartment, that could be as many as another 100 people missing.

This column is not in the habit of giving any credence to politically-motivated Left-wing conspiracy theorists,
but there does appear to be some firm evidence to support those who claim that the death toll is considerably
higher than the authorities are prepared to admit.

Either those who are unaccounted for are presumed dead, but not yet included in the total number of deceased,
or they have vanished ‘into the community’ because they are worried about their immigration status.

That’s why the Government has announced a temporary amnesty for all survivors living in Britain illegally.
It is the only humane course of action. Those who were fortunate to escape this awful catastrophe have been
through enough trauma already without having to worry about being arrested and deported if they come forward.

Difficult questions will have to be addressed in time, however. And not just about attributing blame for the fire.
What happened at Grenfell Tower isn’t simply about safety, it goes to the very heart of successive governments’
policies on immigration and social housing.

Ten per cent of those who died are said to be of Moroccan heritage. A further eight per cent were Ethiopian.
To describe the residents of this block as a ‘community’ is a stretch. Grenfell Tower was a veritable Disunited
Nations.

The days when most Londoners knew their neighbours are long gone. Today, the population is drawn from all
over the globe, a significant proportion of them probably here illegally.

Forgive me for repeating the story of how a former Met Police commissioner told me 15 years ago that there
were at least 250,000 people in London that the authorities knew nothing about.
Goodness knows what that figure is today, but those responsible for finding out seem not to have the slightest
interest.

The difficulty in establishing the identities of all those who lived in Grenfell Tower throws this neglect into stark relief.
The usual suspects will no doubt try to shut down this discussion by howling ‘RAY-CIST!’ and accusing anyone
who even raises such awkward questions of ‘victim blaming’.

But that would be deliberately to miss the point. This isn’t about any individual, or racial minority.
As I’ve written often enough, I don’t criticise anybody who wants to come to Britain to make a better life for
themselves and their families -although I can’t imagine that ending up in an overcrowded flat on the 99th floor
of a tower block overlooking a fume-spewing urban motorway is anyone’s idea of heaven on earth.

We are, however, entitled to expect that those we entrust with running our nation’s affairs can be bothered to
ensure that everyone who settles in Britain does so legally. And that they are not content to shove those who
do slip through the net into substandard accommodation and forget about them.

Grenfell Tower represents all that is wrong with our social housing stock in microcosm, not just in London
but throughout Britain. Council estates were built to provide homes for local people. That original purpose has
been abandoned, as politics has come into play from both sides of the ideological divide.

The Tories sold off the more desirable council houses, part of a hugely popular programme to create a nation
of homeowners. But much of what was left became a dumping ground for problem families and recent immigrants.

Complex points systems evolved, which gave new arrivals priority. In some London boroughs, the waiting list
for a council flat is now anything up to 50 years, yet people from overseas seem to have no difficulty getting one.

For instance, after Grenfell Tower, other councils began evacuating blocks with similar flammable cladding.
In Camden, North London, TV pictures showed tenants from every conceivable ethnic background being ushered
towards a nearby community centre, with the usual complement of women in Islamic headgear.

What struck me, though, were two white interviewees: an American woman and an Australian man.
They were no older than 30 and neither appeared to be destitute or unemployed.
I’m assuming they are both here legally. And, no, they weren’t living together in the same flat.

I couldn’t help wondering: how on earth did they manage to get the keys to a Camden council tower block?
Especially when those who grew up in the immediate vicinity are told they haven’t got a cat-in-hell’s chance
of qualifying for a council house before they reach retirement age.

To whom are they paying rent? To the council, to a housing association, or to a private landlord?
This is where it all starts getting a bit murky. Many former council flats were sold under the Tories’ right-to-buy
scheme and the owners are free to do with them as they wish. Others have now been passed on to housing
associations.

In the case of Grenfell Tower, the authorities now freely concede that some of the flats were being sub-let, against
the terms of the legal tenant’s lease agreement.

Shouldn’t they have known that already? Isn’t that their job?
Why did it take a disaster and the loss of ‘at least’ 80 lives for them to find out?
Still, the only surprise is that anyone’s surprised. The administration of what was once exclusively council accommodation
is increasingly confused. No one seems to know what the hell’s going on when it comes to ‘social housing’.

Go to pretty much any estate in London and you will find plenty of occupants whose names aren’t on the rent book.
Rogue landlords prey on those desperate for a roof over their heads, especially recent arrivals with little if any command
of English.
Is it any wonder that those living here without proper immigration status keep themselves to themselves?
Many of them are working in the black economy and wisely avoid all contact with officialdom.

My assumption is that the picture is the same in most, if not all, of our large cities. It’s what happens when you keep
importing hundreds of thousands of people every year without considering where they’re going to live.

The Grenfell Tower tragedy has thrown up all manner of difficult questions which urgently demand answers.
Yet all we get is puerile political point-scoring about ‘Tory cuts’, insane accusations of ‘murder’, and ridiculous squabbling
over whether a middle-aged white judge is the right person to chair an official inquiry.

What we do know already, without any need for an inquiry, is that those charged with running our immigration system and
ensuring that they know who is actually living in so-called social housing are guilty at the very least of gross dereliction of duty.

A few heads will roll, a report will be published, fingers will be pointed, ‘lessons will be learned’, but the fundamental,
underlying problems will never properly be addressed.
Sadly, too, we will never know definitively how many died, who they all were, where they came from or why they had to end
up perishing in a towering inferno in West London.'
SOURCE:


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