Second London tower block is ravaged by a blaze
A second London tower block has been caught in a raging inferno just hours after a house fire sparked a major evacuation in a set of Dagenham flats.
Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are currently tackling a flat fire in a high rise building on Biscayne Avenue in Blackwall, east London.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) say half of a flat and balcony on the 25th floor of the 45-storey building is alight.
Footage shows thick black smoke has been seen pouring out of Charrington Tower, which is a part of the New Providence Wharf delvopment complex, as locals have been advised to keep windows and doors closed.
The LFB said it was first called to the blaze at 1.28pm and that crews from Millwall, Plaistow, Shadwell and surrounding fire stations were in attendance at the scene.
The fire service added that it had received more than 100 calls regarding the blaze and that the cause is not yet known.
This inferno comes less than 24 hours after a huge blaze engulfed a tower block in Dagenham, east London, which saw more than 100 people evacuated and two people taken to hospital.
Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are tackling the flat fire in a high rise building on Biscayne Avenue in Blackwall, east London
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) say half of a flat and balcony on the 25th floor of the 45-storey building is alight
A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: ‘Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are tackling a flat fire in a high rise building on Biscayne Avenue in Blackwall.
‘Half of a flat and balcony on the 25th floor of the 45-storey building is alight.
‘The fire is producing a large amount of smoke. Those in the local area are advised to keep windows and doors closed and avoid Biscayne Avenue if possible.
‘The Brigade’s 999 Control Officers have taken over 100 calls to the blaze. The Brigade was first called at 1328. Crews from Millwall, Plaistow, Shadwell and surrounding fire stations are in attendance at the scene.
‘The cause of the fire is not known at this time.’
Two of the Brigade’s aerial ladders, including a 64 metre turntable ladder, were deployed to support firefighters as they carried out their response.
Dylan Lee, 28, who saw flames and smoke billowing from the structure while he was in his apartment in Canary Wharf opposite, said he felt ‘dread’ at the sight.
He added: ‘Around 1:25pm an alarm rang out when I noticed smoke billowing from the apartment.
‘Debris and pieces had fallen from the balcony, glass shattered and caused the fire to expand and engulfed the space, with flames reaching out as the wind carried the smoke.
‘The fire brigade arrived 20 minutes later and were tackling it from the adjacent apartment around 1:52pm.’
He said the fire brigade arrived 20 minutes later and added: ‘I felt dread, especially considering this is the second apartment fire in 24 hours in East London alone.
‘I’m hoping the residents made it out ok and the firefighters are in one piece. This was somebody’s home.’
Thick black smoke has been flowing out of the building and locals have been advised to keep windows and doors closed
The fire service was also called at 2.44am this morning to tackle another multi-storey building fire on Freshwater Road in Dagenham.
LFB crew members said parts of the scaffolding surrounding the building, as well as the ground floor and the roof, were alight.
The fire service said 45 engines and around 225 firefighters responded to the blaze that engulfed the whole building. Four people were treated at the scene.
All of the building’s occupants have now been accounted for, the fire brigade said.
The property was undergoing ‘remedial’ work to remove and replace ‘non-compliant cladding’ on the fifth and sixth floors containing flats, according to a planning application document.
An investigation into the fire has begun, during which questions around the role of cladding will ‘form part’ of the probe, the LFB’s Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne said.
