June 15, 2017
By Lizzie Dearden
Thousands of homes (click here) in tower blocks across the UK are undergoing urgent safety reviews after a fire that claimed at least 17 lives in London, amid concerns that exterior cladding commonly used on such buildings could have led to the horrific speed at which the flames spread.
Residents said they had sounded the alarm over issues dating back several years at Grenfell Tower, which was covered in aluminium panels to improve its “external appearance” last year.
Buildings across the UK renovated by the same firm that installed the tower's cladding will now be reviewed, The Independent has learnt.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was among those demanding an immediate review of fire safety at blocks across the country as police launched a separate criminal investigation into the disaster....
Start with normal occupancy and where the head of the household worked. Then expand from there into school attendance and absences at work. It is going to be impossible to recover the bodies in that building. Families and friends need to take account of loved ones that lived in the building and decide if their absence from phone calls and the like is normal or not.
How many more buildings are fitted with these tiles. They have to be removed as soon as possible.
Cladding (click here) believed to have been used on Grenfell Tower is banned in the US, it has emerged, amid revelations that it would have cost just £5,000 extra for the contractors to apply a fire-resistant version of panelling to the building....
...The panels believed to have been fitted to the outside of Grenfell Tower are produced by US company Reynobond, which makes three types of panel: one with a flammable plastic core and two with fire-resistant cores.
It is thought that contractors chose the cheaper, more combustible version for Grenfell, which has a polyethylene core and is known as PE.
A salesman for the US company Reynobond, which produces the panels, told The Times the type of panel believed to have been used on Grenfell Tower was banned on tall buildings in the US “because of the fire and smoke spread”.
The Dubai fire occurred for the same reasons.
April 2, 2017
...The high-rise (click here) Fountain Views complex, which is being built by state-backed Dubai developer Emaar Properties, eventually will connect to the massive Dubai Mall across the street. It's planned to eventually be home to 788 apartments and a hotel.
Emaar, which built both the Dubai Mall and the tower struck by the 2015 blaze, declined to immediately comment.
Dramatic fires have hit skyscrapers in Dubai and other fast-growing cities in the United Arab Emirates in recent years. Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable. Authorities say they've changed fire safety rules in the sheikhdom to address the danger, but have offered few details....
Start with normal occupancy and where the head of the household worked. Then expand from there into school attendance and absences at work. It is going to be impossible to recover the bodies in that building. Families and friends need to take account of loved ones that lived in the building and decide if their absence from phone calls and the like is normal or not.
How many more buildings are fitted with these tiles. They have to be removed as soon as possible.
Cladding (click here) believed to have been used on Grenfell Tower is banned in the US, it has emerged, amid revelations that it would have cost just £5,000 extra for the contractors to apply a fire-resistant version of panelling to the building....
...The panels believed to have been fitted to the outside of Grenfell Tower are produced by US company Reynobond, which makes three types of panel: one with a flammable plastic core and two with fire-resistant cores.
It is thought that contractors chose the cheaper, more combustible version for Grenfell, which has a polyethylene core and is known as PE.
A salesman for the US company Reynobond, which produces the panels, told The Times the type of panel believed to have been used on Grenfell Tower was banned on tall buildings in the US “because of the fire and smoke spread”.
The Dubai fire occurred for the same reasons.
...The high-rise (click here) Fountain Views complex, which is being built by state-backed Dubai developer Emaar Properties, eventually will connect to the massive Dubai Mall across the street. It's planned to eventually be home to 788 apartments and a hotel.
Emaar, which built both the Dubai Mall and the tower struck by the 2015 blaze, declined to immediately comment.
Dramatic fires have hit skyscrapers in Dubai and other fast-growing cities in the United Arab Emirates in recent years. Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable. Authorities say they've changed fire safety rules in the sheikhdom to address the danger, but have offered few details....
