Dagenham fire: Residents describe escape after homes evacuated from tower block engulfed by flames

Firefighters have rescued 20 people from a burning tower block after it was engulfed in flames.

More than 200 firefighters took part in a “significant search and rescue operation” which involved more than 80 people, including children, being evacuated from their homes.

A further 20 people were said to have been rescued by firefighters after what they described as a “significant building failure”.

The fire service said the blaze engulfed the whole building, including scaffolding surrounding the property and the roof.

Speaking on Monday afternoon, London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne added that everyone had been accounted for and the fire was under control.

The block, described as a mixed-use residential and commercial building, was known to have “a number of fire safety issues”, according to the London Fire Brigade, and was covered in “non-compliant” cladding.

Scaffolding surrounding the building was in place to remove the cladding and a fire enforcement notice issued last year highlighted concerns inspectors had at the time.

An investigation into the fire has begun, and will examine what role, if any, the cladding played.

When asked by reporters at the scene “how big a part did cladding play” in the fire, and how close the incident was to a “bigger disaster”, Mr Goulbourne said: “What I wouldn’t want to do is pre-empt an investigation.

“This was a very, very dynamic incident, and clearly it’s going to require a very complex investigation, not only to get to its cause, but to get to an understanding of the fire spread – so it’s it’s too early at this time to be able to give any detail on that, but that will form part of our investigation in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, 70 firefighters were sent to a second fire across London, in Blackwall.

Half of a flat and a balcony on the 25th floor of a 45-storey building were burning, producing a large amount of smoke.

‘Major incident’ in Dagenham

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the sky in Dagenham as 45 fire engines and 225 firefighters responded overnight and into the morning.

Emergency services were called at around 2.44am and the first crews arrived at the tower block within five minutes.

Four patients were treated at the scene, and two were taken to hospital, the London Ambulance Service said.

Eyewitness: The time for answers will come, but help is more urgent

By Matthew Thompson, home and political correspondent, reporting from Dagenham for Sky News

As we arrived first thing this morning, the fire was smouldering, but it was a mere shadow of the inferno that had engulfed the building a few hours before.

Many residents fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Those who have nowhere else to go have been moved to a leisure centre a mile or so away.

There, amid a mass of water bottles, foil blankets and plastic plates, families are huddled, shell-shocked, and facing an uncertain future.

Drilon Nezaj, carrying his 17-month-old daughter in his arms, told me his flat was directly above the source of the fire.

He’d been at a friend’s house for dinner when the baby had fallen asleep, so they decided to stay the night. “She saved our lives,” he said.

Another woman, Kasia, said she awoke in the night to “flames climbing up to our balcony”.

She and her partner got out, with their dog. But fighting back tears, she told me her flat is “all gone. The only thing I can think of is we’re safe. The rest can be replaced. We got out, luckily.”

The building itself has known fire safety issues.

It was in the process of having dangerous flammable cladding removed when the fire broke out.

There may well be a time for recriminations.

But for now, there are scores of people, many with young children, who need help, and somewhere to sleep.

The cause of the fire remains unknown. Emergency services had declared a “major incident”, which has since been stood down.

One local said they heard people “screaming” from their home a few hundred yards from the building as it caught fire overnight.

‘I saw flames climbing up to our balcony’

Kasia Stantke, a resident of the building for six years, didn’t hear a fire alarm go off.

Instead, she told Sky News’ home and political correspondent Matthew Thompson she was woken up by banging.

“I got out of bed and looked out the window and I saw flames climbing up to our balcony.

“I woke my partner and said there’s a fire it’s spreading quickly.”

They got dressed, grabbed their dog, and fled.

“There was no fire alarm, nothing went off, when we ran out the flats we just saw some neighbours, we looked at each other, and said ‘are you okay?’ and tried to wake up a few others, but no fire alarms.”

As she tried to knock on doors, Ms Stantke said she “couldn’t hear one neighbour” and added: “I hope they had gone away for the long weekend.”

She added she thought she wouldn’t have a flat to go back to, following the fire.

Mohammed, a sixth-floor resident, told Sky News he also didn’t hear a fire alarm go off and left the building only with the clothes on his back.

‘My daughter saved our lives’

One first-floor resident was absent at the time of the fire – he said his daughter falling asleep at his friend’s barbecue saved their lives as it meant he decided to stay the night, and not return home.

“I was at my friend’s house, I got a call saying my block was on fire,” Drilon Nezaj told Sky News.

He said his flat was located above the nursery in the building, where he was told the fire broke out.

He continued: “I got invited to my friend’s barbecue yesterday, I didn’t want to go but he said ‘please please please’, so I said let’s go.”

He brought his 17-month-old daughter along and when she fell asleep, he decided to stay the night so he didn’t have to wake her up.

“So thank god, she saved our life. You couldn’t have gotten out from that fire from what I saw, no chance,” he added.

‘We have no clue what happened’

Dinesh Raj’s daughter was at a sleepover in the building with a friend’s family when the blaze broke out.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Raj said he got a call at around 3am and drove over and picked his daughter and friends up.

“They had a six-month baby as well, so they managed to grab the baby and my daughter and get out of the building,” he said.

He added: “I think the majority [of residents] managed to step out before the fire started spreading.

“But everything they have is back in the building and we have no clue what happened.”

A full evacuation

London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: “I am immensely grateful to the crews and officers who have operated in the most dangerous conditions to both rescue people and bring the incident under control despite being faced with a significant building failure.”

He added that drones and 64-metre turntable ladders were being used to tackle the fire, and, following “a full simultaneous evacuation of the building”, he confirmed “everyone has been accounted for”.

A rest centre has been set up in the Becontree Heath Leisure Centre and residents in the surrounding area were advised to keep their windows closed due to smoke.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a statement following the fire.

She said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the major fire incident in Dagenham.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was in close contact with the fire brigade, who he praised for acting “swiftly”.

He added: “I urge local residents to follow LFB’s advice to keep windows and doors closed and for people to avoid the area where possible.”

A fire enforcement notice was issued regarding the building in April 2023.

Among the five issues highlighted was a “failure to provide and/or maintain adequate and clearly indicated emergency routes and exits”.

It isn’t clear whether it was complied with.

The cladding around the tower block is understood to be high pressure laminate (HPL) panels.

It was deemed non-compliant in July 2019 and is a compressed wood fibre which releases heat 25 times faster and burns 115 times hotter than non-combustible products, according to a study by the University of Central Lancashire, published in January 2019.