A large fire that engulfed a block of flats in Dagenham has been brought under control with everyone accounted for, the London fire brigade (LFB) said, as attention turned to the role cladding played on a building with known fire safety issues.
Emergency services were called to the fire on Freshwater Road in east London at 2.44am on Monday, and a major incident was declared.
More than 100 people were evacuated from the eight-storey building and two were taken to hospital.
By about 12.30pm the LFB said the fire was under control and the major incident had been stood down.
According to a planning application document, the building was undergoing remedial work to remove and replace “non-compliant cladding” on the fifth and sixth floors containing flats.
Questions around the role of cladding in the fire quickly emerged and the LFB said these would form part of its investigation.
LFB assistant commissioner Patrick Goulbourne said: “What I wouldn’t want to do is pre-empt an investigation. This was a very, very dynamic incident and clearly it’s going to require a very complex investigation, not only to get to its cause but to get to an understanding of the fire spread.
“So it’s too early at this time to be able to give any detail on that, but that will form part of our investigation in the coming days.”
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) was scathing in its view on the Dagenham fire, saying it again exposed the “national scandal” of flammable cladding and deregulation in the building industry.
It said the block had been the subject of a fire enforcement notice in 2023. The incident comes a week before the publication of the final report of the Grenfell inquiry.
Matt Wrack, the FBU general secretary, 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.
“For decades the FBU has warned of the risks of deregulation in the building sector. Politicians have put the interests of big business above human life. As we saw at Grenfell Tower, this can have horrific and tragic consequences.
“It was already known that the Dagenham tower block was dangerous. Time and time again these warnings have been ignored by public authorities and by central government. This must change immediately.”
Sam Ogbeide, who lives on the fourth floor of the building, told reporters: “I opened my main door, smoke was coming in from the window – I live at the back. I saw it [the fire]. Very terrible. Very terrible.”
Ogbeide said the building’s stairwell was very busy with fellow residents who “didn’t bring anything” when evacuating. He said: “I’ve never experienced something like this in my life. Everything is gone. I don’t know what to do.”
Chris, 44, who lives in a home behind the block of flats and did not want to provide his last name, told the Guardian: “I saw a bright light behind my window. We came outside and there were fire engines and ambulances. The blaze was so huge.”
He said residents were being treated for burns outside his home during the night. “I was so shocked,” he said.
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, posted on X at 12.16pm that the major incident had been stood down, and he thanked emergency services who he said had “worked tirelessly through the night” to control the blaze.
Displaced residents were being attended to by emergency services and council support workers in a nearby leisure centre. Goulbourne did not confirm whether they would be housed in the borough in the coming days but said there was “an ongoing plan to ensure [their] welfare”.
About an hour after the Dagenham blaze was brought under control, a fire began at a residential development in nearby Poplar.
The LFB were called to the 44-storey Charrington Tower in the New Providence Wharf development at 1.28pm. Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters tackled the blaze, which was under control by 2.50pm.
The New Providence Wharf development has long caused concern over its fire safety. In 2021 a fire rapidly spread in one of the blocks, which had Grenfell-style cladding, trapping residents inside. The LFB ordered the developer Ballymore to remove the panels by the end of the year.
Charrington Tower has an EWS1 certificate, which proves wall materials are noncombustible, but residents expressed concern about the building’s wooden balconies.
Charrington Tower does have communal fire alarms, but these ring directly to the LFB and are not audible in the building.
A Ballymore Asset Management Ltd (BAML) spokesperson said: “Initial reports indicate that the building’s fire safety systems activated quickly, effectively, and as designed.
“The cause of the fire is not yet known. We will continue to work closely with the London fire brigade as the cause of the fire is investigated.”
Susan Yan, 49, was in her flat when the fire broke out. “There are no alarms apart from in your apartment,” she said. “I was directly under the fire on the balcony. I heard people screaming downstairs and then they said ‘get out’. I looked down and saw the smoke coming up to my floor. I quickly grabbed my jacket and ran down.”
