A fire at a tower block in east London has once again raised questions about the use of flammable cladding on buildings, just days before the final report on the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy is set to be published.
Forty fire engines and more than 200 firefighters attended the blaze on Freshwater Road in Dagenham in the early hours of Monday morning, with London Fire Brigade declaring a major incident.
More than 80 people, including children, were evacuated from their homes, while 20 more were rescued by firefighters. Two people were taken to hospital for undisclosed reasons.
The fire broke out at the apartment block, which London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said was known to have “a number of fire safety issues”, as works were underway to remove “non-compliant cladding”.
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