Fire crews are battling a high rise blaze in Whitechapel High Street with around 15 fire engines and 125 firefighters at the scene.
The fire started on the 17th floor of the building, meaning crews used their 64m ladder.
The brigade received 50 incident calls, with the first arriving just before 4 p.m. this afternoon.
A tower block fire in Whitechapel High Street. Photo: PA
Crews from Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Dowgate, Bethnal Green, Dockhead, Old Kent Road, Islington and surrounding fire stations are in attendance.
The London Ambulance Service is advising people in the area to keep windows closed and stay indoors.
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Response to the Whitechapel High Street fire
Among the reactions to the tower fire in Whitechapel today, residents said they did not hear a fire alarm and were alerted to the situation by others in the building.
“The important thing is that I am alive”
Eric, 25, who declined to give his full name, said he lived in a flat opposite where the fire started on the 17th floor of the Whitechapel building.
He said, “I’m a little giddy right now.”
He added that as long as he was not in the building, he feared that all his possessions would be destroyed.
“My real estate agent called me and he asked me if I was ok and told me there was a fire in the apartment on my floor. I’m afraid my things will be destroyed, but I can not do anything about it.
“The important thing is that I’m alive but everything I own is in this apartment.”
He said it was “not ideal”, but he was trying to look at the positives.
Around 15 fire engines and 125 firefighters attended the Whitechapel fire. Photo: PA
“I didn’t hear an alarm”
Lynn Ling, 25, a student at the London School of Economics in China who lives on the 20th floor with her husband Yuri, said the incident was “very scary”.
Ms Ling, who was wearing a silver safety blanket because she forgot her coat during the rush to evacuate, told the PA news agency she was alerted to the fire by a friend who told her. had called from the street around 4:30 p.m.
She said: ‘I didn’t hear an alarm. I think there was a fire alarm downstairs but I couldn’t hear it clearly on the 20th I walked out my door but found there was smoke in the hallway so I went down. I forgot to take my coat. It was very scary.
She added that a firefighter on the 19th floor was knocking on doors to tell people to leave.
“He said, ‘Don’t be afraid,'” she added. “They were trying to protect us. He was nice.”
The 25-year-old said that when she was coming downstairs a group of firefighters “were about to come upstairs”.
Ms Ling said she did not know what started the fire and added that she was “very worried” for their property.
Her husband added that they were unsure whether they would return to their flat tonight and would be staying with a friend.
The fire started on the 17th floor of the building in Whitechapel High Street. Photo: PA
“There was no alarm on the 10th floor”
Rachel, from Nottinghamshire, who did not want to give her surname, said she was staying at a friend’s flat on the 10th floor of the Whitechapel building as she visited London to celebrate her 50th birthday.
She said she was “really shaken” by the incident.
She added that she had just arrived at the apartment and was packing her things when she smelled smoke.
“I saw the buses turning outside and I thought something like a car accident happened on the street,” she said. “I never thought for a second that there could be a fire.”
She says she stuck her head in the hallway and heard a young boy shouting, “Get out, there’s a fire.
Rachel added: “If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have known there was a fire. There was no alarm on the 10th floor.
Rachel, added: “There were mothers and babies on the street with social services sorting them out.
“I am very shaky. I worry about everyone who lives there. Not having alarms in a building like this – all I can say is I live in a bungalow and never leave a bungalow.
When asked where she will be staying tonight, she replied, “I don’t know what will happen now.”
Earlier in the evening, the flames had spread to an 18th floor balcony before firefighters extinguished them. Flames could then be seen through a 19th floor window.
A drone and helicopter hovered near the building as firefighters worked to douse the flames.
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-07 19:39:30
