WITH COMBUSTIBLE CLADDING LIKE GRENFELL emergency
Our hell, by moved out residents 70 tackle fire in flats
FAMILIES told of their despair yesterday at facing homelessness for three weeks after they were evacuated from their tower blocks.
They are among hundreds told to leave Chalcots estate in Swiss Cottage, North London – with many unsure where they will sleep tonight.
One Taplow tower block resident now on an air bed at Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre said: “I have to go to work on Monday. How am I supposed to carry on like normal when I’m basically homeless, living with hundreds of other people in a centre?”
Scaffolder Frank Blunkett refused to spend the night in the leisure centre.
He said: “I can’t sleep there, it’s like a refugee camp. I’ve booked a hotel but they won’t reimburse me.”
Mahin Rahman, 29, has been sleeping in his hatchback car with his disabled mother, 57, and two sisters, aged 24 and 25, with some of their belongings packed in the boot.
He said: “It’s not very comfortable but at least we have our own space.
“Until the council offer something better, the car is our best option.
“We have not been sleeping well but the alternative is the leisure centre where people are crammed in. There are dogs running around and it’s as hot as a sauna. My mum has a disability. She can’t be doing with that.” A HUGE fire ripped through the top floor of a block of flats in London.
Flames and smoke were seen billowing from the low-rise building.
At total of 72 firefighters and ten fire engines tackled the blaze.
One man was taken to hospital after inhaling smoke, in Bethnal Green, East London.
London Fire Brigade said: “The whole of a flat on the third floor and roof is alight. The brigade’s 999 control took nearly 50 calls.
“A man was suffering from smoke inhalation and has been taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews.
“The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.”