More high-rises found with combustible material

LONDON — At least seven buildings in Britain are clad in combustible material of a kind similar to the cladding that was used on the exterior of Grenfell Tower, the apartment building destroyed in London’s deadliest fire in decades, officials said Thursday, as they scrambled to conduct safety checks on at least 600 other high-rise buildings.

Exterior cladding is thought to have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire, which consumed the 24-story Grenfell Tower in West London in just one hour, early June 14. The fire killed at least 79 people and left hundreds of survivors homeless.

The cladding on the building — sheets of aluminum composite material, encasing a flammable polyethylene insulation — has been associated with high-rise fires in other countries and its use is restricted in the United States and elsewhere. It was permitted under British regulations, even though safety experts have long warned that the metal sheets could melt under intense heat, allowing a blaze to race through the combustible material between them.

Over the weekend, the government ordered local authorities to review records on residential buildings that are more than about 60 feet in height and are clad with “aluminum-type panels.”

“Shortly before I came to this chamber, I was informed that a number of tests have come back as combustible,” Prime Minister Theresa May told lawmakers Thursday morning. “The relevant local authorities and local fire services have been informed, and as I speak, they are taking all possible steps to ensure buildings are safe, and to inform affected residents.”

By late afternoon, May’s office said, officials concluded that seven buildings so far had been shown to contain combustible cladding. They emphasized that samples were being tested at a rate of 100 a day, and that the number of buildings at risk could grow.

Later the figures were updated in a letter from Sajid Javid, secretary of state for communities and local government, which said that “so far we have had samples from 11 high-rise buildings in eight local authority areas where the cladding has failed the test.”

“All landlords and fire and rescue services for those local authorities have been alerted to the results and we are in touch with all these areas to support and monitor follow-up action.”

The cladding at Grenfell Tower was installed as part of a renovation that was completed in May 2016.