Camberwell Flat Fire: What Caused It?

The huge fire which raged through seven floors of a block of flats in Camberwell yesterday afternoon may have been started deliberately. It is now known that three adults and three children, one only three weeks old, died in the blaze at Lakanal House. Eighteen fire engines and a hundred firefighters attended the scene. The fire seems to have begun in a flat on the fourth floor: fire investigators are treating the cause as 'suspicious' until they get to the bottom of it. It certainly looks like it will be a while before the surviving residents are allowed to return to their homes. At a time when London is growing ever upwards, let this be a timely reminder to planners to put safety first.