Firefighters pay tribute to victims of tower blaze
FIREFIGHTERS from across the West Midlands have paid tribute to the victims and those affected by the devastating fire at a London tower block.
A raging fire tore through a 24-storey block of flats in west Kensington in the early hours of yesterday morning. More than 200 firefighters tackled the blaze from around 1am. Police confirmed yesterday lunchtime that six people had died and the death toll was expected to rise.
West Midlands Fire Service released a statement describing the scene as “truly horrific”.
Phil Loach, West Midlands Chief Fire Officer, said: “The images emerging from the scene are truly horrific. Our hearts go out to the many victims. Fires in high-rise blocks are among the most challenging and hostile incidents we can expect to deal with. Our thoughts are with our London Fire Brigade colleagues and all emergency responders involved in this major incident.
“Our firefighters train regularly to be able to respond to such calls within five minutes, then to put their training and skills into action as safely and as effectively as possible.
“We work closely with the landlords and owners of tower blocks throughout the West Midlands to help them do all they can to ensure the safety of people who live or work in them.”
In 2014, WMFS opened a six-storey high-rise training centre at Oldbury Community Fire Station.
The structure is used to help firefighters and incident commanders understand fire behaviour in multistorey residential and commercial premises. Instructors use it to set fires in controlled conditions. They can vary ventilation, wind speed and the internal movement of smoke and fire gases.
CFO Loach added: “Our commitment to preventing fires in people’s homes means the numbers of such incidents are significantly fewer, but these tragic events show that their severity and impact can still be major. There are nearly 1,000 residential buildings in the West Midlands with four storeys or more and more than half of them have at least eight storeys. It is vitally important that anyone who lives or works in a high-rise building makes sure they know their building’s specific escape plan, which should be clearly and regularly communicated by the owner or landlord.”