By Tom Lowe2021-05-07T11:07:00+01:00
Developer Ballymore was one of 14 firms ‘named and shamed’ by government for failing to remove cladding from its buildings
A fire at a 19-storey residential block in east London that is clad in Grenfell-style ACM cladding has been brought under control, the developer behind the scheme has said.
Around 125 firefighters and 20 fire enginers were fighting the blaze this morning at Ballymore’s 1,535-home New Providence Wharf block in Poplar, according to the London Fire Brigade.
Ballymore said in a statement: ”We can confirm that the fire was quickly brought under control by the Fire Brigade and is now extinguished. Our response team are on-site to support residents and assist with alternative accommodation where necessary.”
Residents trapped in a tower block this morning screamed for help from balconies as a blaze ripped through their building - with many only becoming aware of the fire via WhatsApp messages.
More than 125 firefighters in 20 vehicles spent hours battling the inferno and rescuing a host of people - including a small toddler - at New Providence Wharf, near Canary Wharf, in east London today.
Two men were taken to hospital after being exposed to toxic fumes, while a further 38 adults and four children were treated at the scene for shock and breathing in smoke.
But many families weren t alerted to the blaze by the fire alarm for more than half an hour, with one homeowner claiming they only noticed when they woke to the smell of smoke, while others were completely oblivious to the danger until messages started appearing in a neighbourhood group chat. Others found out via the news.
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Sputnik International
The fire at New Providence Wharf today
- Credit: PA/Athina Fokidou
More than 100 firefighters have been tackling a huge blaze at a tower block near Canary Wharf which is wrapped in Grenfell-like cladding.
Emergency services were called to the huge New Providence Wharf development on the Thames waterfront, next to the Blackwall Tunnel, after a fire broke out in parts of the eighth, ninth and 10th floors of a 19-storey tower in Fairmont Avenue.
Work to remove the controversial cladding at the development, which was completed in 2004, was set to begin following years of pressure by campaigners in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017.