Grenfell Tower

An LFB report on the New Providence Wharf fire:

The fire is believed to have been caused by a “consumer unit” or fuse box in a cupboard catching fire when a timer switch for an immersion water heater overheated.

The resident of the flat required hospital treatment for minor burns. About a fifth of the exterior of the building is covered by Grenfell-style ACM cladding but this “did not significantly add” to the spread of the fire.

However timber decking on the balconies was thought to have accelerated the fire’s external spread from the eighth to the 11th floor.

The provisional report says an automatic opening vent (AOV) system, which should have prevented the communal areas becoming smoke-logged, and cross-corridor doors both failed to operate.

“This allowed smoke and the products of combustion to flow through the common parts of the eighth floor (and subsequently beyond) making it difficult/impossible for persons on this floor to escape safely, while increasing the challenges and risks for firefighting and search and rescue operations within the building,” the report said.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/e­ast-london-poplar-high-rise-building-fir­e-broken-chimney-blaze-report-b938182.ht­ml

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgxj37y6l0o]

The building just behind New Providence Wharf has also caught fire.