The Fire Brigades Union has said that a high-rise fire in Dagenham exposes the “national scandal” of flammable cladding and deregulation in the building industry.
A fire broke out in a tower block on Freshwater Road in Dagenham, east London, in the early hours of Monday morning.
Hundreds of firefighters have attended and the London Fire Brigade declared a major incident. Two people have been taken to hospital.
According to the London Fire Brigade, the building had “non-compliant” cladding on it, and had been the subject of a fire enforcement notice in 2023.
The incident comes just one week before the publication of the final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:
“Hundreds of firefighters have responded to a high-rise fire in Dagenham today, and have carried out rescues. The Fire Brigades Union applauds their dedication and professionalism. Our thoughts are with the residents of the tower, who have lost their homes and been left traumatised.
“Once again, a fire has erupted in a residential building wrapped in flammable cladding. There needs to be an urgent and swift investigation of how this has been allowed to happen.
“Hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in buildings like it, with various failings in fire safety. This is a national scandal.
“For decades, the FBU has warned of the risks of deregulation in the building sector. Politicians have put the interests of big business above human life. As we saw at Grenfell Tower, this can have horrific and tragic consequences.
“We have highlighted significant building safety failings before and since the Grenfell Tower fire. It was already known that the Dagenham tower block was dangerous. Time and time again, these warnings have been ignored by public authorities and by central government. This must change immediately.
“The FBU will continue to demand robust action on building safety, and justice for the victims of these entirely avoidable fires.”
