Residents on the 12th floor of a residential block near Grenfell Tower were forced to flee their homes today after a fire broke out inside a flat, which was believed to have been started by an electric bike.
One person was taken to the hospital for treatment, while two others were evaluated by paramedics on the scene.
Six other residents were led to safety by emergency services as three people from the property fled their home in Stebbing House before the firefighters arrived.
Thirty people were forced to flee the building due to the fire, and one had to be escorted to safety by emergency personnel.
As the blaze took hold inside the home in Shepherds Bush, West London, dramatic photos from the scene showed smoke billowing into the sky close to the burned out shell of Grenfell.
The fire is thought to have been started by an electric bike in the flat on the 12th floor. It’s thought that the bike was being charged at this point.
When the bike caught fire, a man is thought to have pulled the plug on the charger and then poured water over it, causing ‘billowing smoke’ inside the property.
The 1960s tower block ‘does not have Grenfell-style cladding,’ meaning it is ‘non-flammable,’ according to a council spokesman.
It comes just days after the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, which was commemorated with a service at Westminster Abbey.
At the event last week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined bereaved families and survivors of the tragedy.
Prior to the memorial service, Kate and Wills held a private meeting with those who had been directly affected by the disaster.
The fire was under control as of 10.55 a.m., according to the London Fire Brigade, and three people had left the flat before firefighters arrived.
‘We reported to Stebbing House this morning at 9.23 to a fire reported on the 12th floor,’ Station Commander David Bracewell said.
‘Before the Brigade arrived, three people from the affected flat had left. The building was evacuated by a number of other residents.
‘Due to the severity of the fire, we have eight fire engines and specialist vehicles on the scene.’ The fire has been put out.
‘We’ve escorted one person to safety and had 30 people self-migrate without the help of the London Fire Brigade.’
LFB is working with the Metropolitan Police, local authorities, and the London Ambulance Service to ensure that residents can safely return to their homes, he added.
Three floors of the building were damaged in the fire, and residents on the 10th, 11th, and 12th floors have been denied access to their homes.
‘The fire started on the 12th floor, and although investigations are ongoing, it appears at this stage to have been caused by some sort of electrical fault,’ a London Fire Brigade source at the scene told MailOnline.
‘It is now under control, and all of the occupants have been located and no serious injuries have been reported.’ I believe one person has been taken to the hospital.’
As firefighters battled to put out the fire, at least one resident suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
The fire “was under control very quickly,” according to a Hammersmith and Fulham council spokesman, and “there was no need to evacuate because the fire was contained to a single flat.”
‘The 1960s purpose-built concrete frame tower block, with concrete floors, brick exterior walls, and a flat, concrete roof,’ he added.
‘It doesn’t have Grenfell-style cladding — it’s non-flammable — it’s been assessed, and it’s not the same type of cladding.’ The building’s fire safety has already been improved by the council.’
The “risk to life from fire in these premises is’moderate,’” according to fire risk assessment documents published by the authority last year for Stebbing House, but certain concerns were raised, including the need for “additional smoke ventilation to corridors.”
According to council documents, the building has 25 floors and was renovated around 2011. It can house a maximum of 450 people.
‘We were called at 9.45 a.m. to reports of a fire at a block of flats on Queensdale Crescent,’ said a London Ambulance Service spokesman.
‘We dispatched two ambulances and our Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene.’
‘At the scene, two patients were assessed, and another was treated and taken to the hospital.’
Less than a mile away from Grenfell Tower, which caught fire in June 2017, black smoke can be seen billowing in the sky.
The fire claimed the lives of 72 people and injured 74 others, and it took more than 250 firefighters and 70 fire engines to put it out.
‘The first we heard that something was going on was when neighbors started knocking on our front door this morning around 9.30am,’ said Armani Paczkowski, who lives on the sixth floor with his mother.
‘They said there was a fire and that we needed to get out.’
‘I couldn’t see anything until I exited the building and walked around to the back, where I saw thick black smoke pouring out of a window on the 12th floor.’
‘To be honest, there was no panic or fear; everyone was quite calm.’
‘Not long after, fire crews arrived, and everyone was evacuated.’ I’m relieved that no one appears to have been seriously injured.’
‘I could smell smoke but couldn’t see it,’ said another second-floor resident.
‘I didn’t see the fire because it happened at the back of the block, upstairs from me.’
‘It was terrifying at first because Grenfell Tower is nearby, and thoughts of that disaster flashed through my mind, but thankfully, the fire was brought under control quickly and no lives were lost.’
Felicity Buchan, the Conservative MP for Kensington, described the fire as “very concerning” and said aerial appliances had been dispatched to the scene.
‘Very concerning to hear about the high-rise fire at Queensdale Crescent in Shepherds Bush,’ she wrote on Twitter.
‘According to London Fire, eight fire engines, 60 firefighters, and a 32mm aerial appliance are on the scene.’
Residents who have had their memories of the Grenfell fire triggered by today’s blaze should seek help from local mental health services, according to NHS communications director Mike Waddington.
‘If this incident in Shepherds Bush upsets you so close to the Grenfell Anniversary, please contact the Grenfell Health & Wellbeing Service on 0208 637 6279 up until 8pm; then call the CNWL Support line on 0800 0234 650,’ he tweeted.
Residents such as Ellis Hunt, 64, believe that lessons should be learned from the Grenfell Tower tragedy in order to ensure that people are rescued as safely as possible from burning buildings.
‘I was worried about my neighbor noticing that no one was coming up,’ he added. Who was there to watch out for the elderly people who couldn’t walk or move? Everyone is terrified, but they have no idea what to do.’
The West London fire occurs just days after the five-year anniversary of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, which was commemorated with a Westminster Abbey service.
At the memorial, which was attended by MPs including Theresa May, who was Prime Minister at the time, multi-faith leaders read out the names of the victims of the tragedy.
As Mrs May and others bowed their heads in prayer after each group of names was read out, the congregation said in unison, “Forever in our hearts” – the phrase emblazoned across the top of the covered-up tower in north Kensington.
The abbey bells rang out 72 times after the service, and white roses were laid at the church’s entrance, just off Parliament Square.
The deadly combustible cladding accelerated the accidental fire five years ago, which was the worst in Britain for more than a generation, and many of those who died had been told to stay in their flats.
More than 50 high-rise buildings have the same highly flammable cladding that caused the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people five years ago.
Despite the government’s stated goal of having all hazardous cladding materials removed by June 2020, the latest figures show that this goal has not been met.
The aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding identified by the Grenfell Inquiry as the leading cause of the 2017 tragedy was found in 486 buildings over 18 meters tall.
On 111 of them, work has yet to begin, on 31 of them, it has not even begun, and on 58 of them, the cladding is still intact.
The Grenfell Fire, which started with a broken fridge-freezer on the fourth floor of a block in Kensington and Chelsea, claimed more lives than any other residential fire since World War II.
The Government banned the type of combustible cladding used on Grenfell and promised to remove what was left eighteen months later.
However, the plans were stymied when leaseholders in some of the affected buildings were told they would have to pay for the repairs themselves.
Many of them found themselves in a Catch-22 situation, unable to afford repairs but unable to sell their homes due to the work required.
Now, 45 homebuilders have agreed to pay £2 billion to fix the unsafe cladding, thanks to a deal brokered by Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up.