Camberwell Fire: Cause And Fireworthiness

Police say an electrical fault in an old TV (though in this case ‘old‘ is deemed to be more than 10 years; we’ve got a telly that old. We’ll be unplugging that whenever we go out now) caused the fire that tore through Lakanal House in Camberwell earlier this month. BBC London have also done some digging and found that Southwark Council were aware the block posed fire risks way back in 2000. It then took them seven years to do anything about it, and when something finally happened it was to replace window frames with uPVC – which not only gives off fumes in a fire but also melts, raising the possibility of the hot plastic causing fires where it lands. The BBC quotes architect Sam Webb, who questions the sense of the refurbishment: “I am not sure how that was ever allowed on such a high block and it was undoubtedly a major cause of the fire spread”. (Image / a shadow of my future self)

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