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Just checked on Idealista - flats in that area go for well over 300K - not a run down area by any means, although it is on the outskirts of town. There's no way that was being used to house poorer people, it's a medium priced, newish, block to house all the new families moving to Valencia for jobs in IT, banking and the airport.
I don't want this thread to derail the Grenfell subject, so I'm putting this here rather than make another entry:
https://english.elpais.com/spain/2024-02-23/high-rise-complex-consumed-by-fire-in-spain-was-made-in-2008-with-innovative-materials-by-a-developer-that-went-bankrupt.html -
UPVC cladding from the 1980s--not in tower blocks but small (timber-framed) houses, which were completely destroyed in a fire:
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I looked at the area, too, although I was only talking about this one block. Perhaps @beseku, who lives in Valencia (unless he's moved) can tell us more. My impression was that this was a failed venture (developer went bankrupt, very badly designed at ground level, etc.) that was used as cheap housing, including for refugees--temporarily, perhaps, and I'm sure it was never meant to be that way, but these things happen. Very happy to be proven wrong.
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The Campanar towerblock residents interviewed on Spanish tv after the fire all seemed typically middle class.. there was also speculation at the time that some of the people listed as missing were foreigners who had been staying in air b&b type holiday rentals in the block, I’m not sure if that was actually the case.
There’s an update on the Valencia fire here
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At least 2027 before possible trials--I wouldn't put money on that timescale not to slip:
The police have been pursuing 27,000 separate lines of inquiry in an investigation involving 180 full-time officers which has cost, so far, £107m.
More than 150m files and documents have been gathered and 12,000 witness statements have been taken. Some of the files, which have already been shared with the CPS, stand seven feet high.
Also in the Standard:
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£300m to the bosses, £752k paid out in compensation so far
https://www.thetimes.com/article/7e5c7b69-77ee-48ce-b336-1a43b6994e73?shareToken=5840efde8d4e2f808f5428a908c8ab92 -
Fire at Dagenham tower lock last night.
The block is covered in scaffolding, which might suggest cladding remediation is in progress.
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Yes, every time a tall building has a fire you think of Grenfell. Fortunately, this one was evacuated quickly.
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It was potentially another Grenfell …
https://news.sky.com/story/over-200-firefighters-respond-to-fire-at-east-london-tower-block-13123366
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Looks terrible:
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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.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgxj37y6l0o]
The building just behind New Providence Wharf has also caught fire.
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45 storeys.
I suppose this one must be a safer building where the fire's contained better. Still terrifying.
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Residents on the news tonight saying the fire alarm didn’t sound. It’s a miracle everyone got out safely.
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Quite a few articles at the moment around the imminent publication of the second report.
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The BBC have a podcast series, Grenfell: Building a Disaster which was a good if difficult listen.
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One line caught my eye;
“The dishonest strategies of Arconic and Kingspan succeeded in a large measure due to the incompetence of the BBA,” he said. -
So many articles about the report. Here's a write-up of the LFB response:
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The Grenfell United response to the Phase Two report currently seems to take the form of a video (I can't find any web pages, perhaps someone else can):
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Ah, now they've given a press conference.
Grenfell families have criticised the final inquiry report on the disaster for failing to fully address the disproportionate impact the tragedy had on diverse and marginalised communities.
However, for some bereaved families the 1,700-page report did not go far enough in investigating the disproportionate impact the fire had on residents from marginalised backgrounds.
According to submissions to the inquiry, 85% of the tower’s residents who died in the fire were of Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) origin.
Nabil Choucair, who lost his mother, his sister, her husband and their three daughters in the disaster, told the Guardian: “Most of the people that were affected or died were of BAME origin. They were never listened to or their problems dealt with.
“We were fighting to get [the inquiry] to look at [racism] and they didn’t. You have to look at how … the families were being treated differently.”
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The naïve part of me doesn't understand how this cunt isn't in prison.
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About
Grenfell Tower
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@skydancer
Ten confirmed fatalities.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/23/spain-fire-people-still-missing-after-valencia-apartment-block-blaze