THIS FIRE IS A WAKE-UP CALL
40,000 still living in buildings with Grenfell cladding
PROTESTERS yesterday staged a demo at another tower block hit by fire and told the Government: “This must be a wake-up call.”
The sight of flames licking New Providence Wharf on Friday revived awful memories of the Grenfell Tower disaster which killed 72 in June 2017.
Wharf residents in East London held placards saying “How many fires does it take?” and “Keep us safe”.
It came as figures show around 40,000 people are still living in deathtrap high rises swathed in flammable aluminium composite material.
Flames spread across three floors of the 18-storey Wharf block and 44 people needed treatment. Repairs on Grenfell-style ACM cladding were scheduled to start next week.
Leaseholder Karryn Beaumont, 50, said: “It’s astonishing that ACM still remains on so many buildings. What happened on Friday must serve as a wake-up call to the Government to remove flammable cladding off all buildings as quickly as possible.”
Freeholder Ballymore said the ACM “played no part in causing or facilitating the fire”. But its subsidiary Landor Residential was until this month one of 10 firms on a “red list” for not starting works.
Natasha Elcock, 44, who lived on the 11th floor at Grenfell, in West London, said: “It’s infuriating and horrifying that dangerous materials have yet to be removed. I do not want more people to go through the nightmare that Grenfell survivors and bereaved have. The Government is playing Russian roulette with thousands of innocent people’s lives. It’s time to deal with this crisis once and for all, enough is enough.”
Figures show 190 towers with as many as 18,000 flats, including five student halls and 13 hotels, are not fully repaired.
That does not include 11,000 buildings with other cladding, or those less than 18 metres high.
Leaseholders fear huge bills if a £5billion repair fund runs short. Housing Ministry papers suggest work has started at 92% of identified towers.
A Government spokesman said: “The Government will fund every eligible application.”
Thousands of lives at risk in this Russian roulette...
Natasha Elcock WHO SURVIVED GRENFELL FIRE