Anyone watching this terrible fire?...Any chance this building collapses? This fire is absolutely massive...Here's hoping the best for all affected.
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Just saw it. Awful.Anyone watching this terrible fire?...Any chance this building collapses? This fire is absolutely massive...Here's hoping the best for all affected.
Building collapse will depend on how well the structural steel is protected and how much of the building is actually consumed by fire. I am looking for video of it and have only found pics.Anyone watching this terrible fire?...Any chance this building collapses? This fire is absolutely massive...Here's hoping the best for all affected.
Apparently residents have been writing a blog documenting their complaints with the landlord and expressing their fears that the building was a giant fire trap for some time now: https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/
What are these buildings constructed of? When I worked in Beltsville they were building new townhomes and condos along my route. I noticed that all of them were stick construction and I kept wondering 'wow, what is going to happen if there is a fire' well, they don't last long. A small stove fire will spread very quickly no matter if there are fire stops in the walls or what not. They just go up like bon fires.
Way too tall for stick construction - from what I saw it's concrete the whole way through, which is probably the reason why it didn't collapse. There is an issue of the cladding that another poster mentioned, though, as well as what appears to be the landlord's long-documented history of shoddy maintenance practices. Residents were apparently saying, too, that there weren't any sprinklers (or they didn't function) and that fire alarms didn't go off.What are these buildings constructed of? When I worked in Beltsville they were building new townhomes and condos along my route. I noticed that all of them were stick construction and I kept wondering 'wow, what is going to happen if there is a fire' well, they don't last long. A small stove fire will spread very quickly no matter if there are fire stops in the walls or what not. They just go up like bon fires.
In addition it appears that many of the common areas were filled with rubbish and things like mattresses. They said the management refused to remove this which could have also contributed to the fast spreading fire.
Rubbish dumped by the tenants.
I know the building was too tall for stick construction... but there is no reason for a concrete structure to burn like that. Unreal. That company should be shuttered, the people who own it should have their assets sold off and the money go to the families of the dead, the injured, and those that lost everything. The owners should also spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars. Sickening.
Let's not hang the contractors just yet. It was built in 1974. If it wasn't constructed to 1974 standards, that is on the code inspectors who had 40+ years to notice it.
It was stated earlier in this thread that in a recent renovation, the contractors installed a flammable cladding.
Mark, 45, a witness to the Wednesday's London fire, said the Greenfell Tower had recently been renovated with cladding added to the outside. He believed the cladding caused the fire's intensity.
"It was burning like paper, it wasn't the building, it wasn't the structure. That cladding - it was just like throwing fuel on the fire." he said.
Another witness, Sam, 23, was returning to his home on a street nearby Latimer Road at 1am.
"The whole thing just went up, it took off like a match to paper," he told Fairfax Media.
"Whole panels were coming off in flames, their hoses could reach only halfway up the building, and whole bits of the facade from the top, these panels were literally falling down. It was horrible."
UK's fire codes are badly out dated according to many experts
The same product was used in the USA.
our code is still stricter than theirs isThe same product was used in the USA.
It was stated earlier in this thread that in a recent renovation, the contractors installed a flammable cladding.
Again, was the cladding code kosher when it was added? If not, why did the inspectors allow it to be installed?
Why would a highly flammable cladding be deemed kosher? Greed, corruption, a complete lack of human decency?
So you are arguing that we need stricter regulations and a reduced influence of corporate lobbyists. I agree.
Let's not hang the contractors just yet. It was built in 1974. If it wasn't constructed to 1974 standards, that is on the code inspectors who had 40+ years to notice it.
Why would a highly flammable cladding be deemed kosher? Greed, corruption, a complete lack of human decency?
Wow just seeing this thread. I used to work for a company that manufactured fire retardant material. Not sure if it was around then, but now many structures wrap the beams with endothermic material. The thought is it will buy time for people to get out of large structures. The problem is elevator shafts, chaseways/ HVAC shafts, etc. send oxygen to the fire. If those beams get hot enough, the structure will be significantly weakened. IIRC that is what happened to the World Trade Center.Anyone watching this terrible fire?...Any chance this building collapses? This fire is absolutely massive...Here's hoping the best for all affected.
The cladding was apparently put on at the request of nearby wealthy property owners who wanted the high rise to look like less of an "eyesore".
Someone who inherits a $700,000 oceanfront apartment qualifies them as one of the rich people, in my book.Oh yeah that must be it!
Some of you should try sitting on a board for a building at some point. The rich people aren't the problem. Nor are the neighbors.
The problem are those who will fight tooth and nail against a $5k assessment to install sprinklers, yelling and sometimes resorting to violence so they can remain in their inherited $700k ocean front apartment.
The other problem are those who believe everyone but them should do the work. Yet they should be able to complain about everything.
LdN