Firefighters were called to tackle a blaze at a high-rise block of flats in the early hours of this morning after the alarms allegedly failed to go off.
Crews were called to a fire on the 13th floor of the 20-storey block in Lewisham, South East London, on the first anniversary of the Grenfell Tower blaze.
London Fire Brigade said around 150 people left the building before firefighters arrived at about 4.15am and a sprinkler system ‘suppressed’ the fire.
But some residents complained that they had to rely on neighbours to alert them to the danger.
Crews were called to a fire on the 13th floor of the 20-storey block in Lewisham this morning
Residents are pictured returning to their homes following the blaze in South East London
Some residents complained that they had to rely on neighbours to alert them to the danger
London Fire Brigade arrived at about 4.15am and said a sprinkler system ‘suppressed’ the fire
Yusif Ali tweeted: ‘Fire in Roma Corte building, Lewisham and no fire alarm was set off. Instead get woken up to the sound of people screaming there was a fire. Horrible.’
Caleb Parker said: ‘Not the best way to wake up this morning! But thankful for the firefighters who kept this from spreading this morning, and neighbours who banged on each others door since the fire alarm did not sound. Kudos to the police too for their professionalism.’
Christoph Mayr posted on Twitter: “Evacuated at four this morning. Fire is out and everybody is safe, but very concerned there were no alarms going off. So grateful to the people in the buildings opposite screaming their t**s off to alert us.”
And Nick Cheuk added: ‘Police just told us that no one has been injured and that the fire was contained to just the one flat.’
Paramedics and police were also at the scene following the fire early this morning
Firefighters allow people back into their homes following the fire in Lewisham this morning
Flats in the block, which is called Roma Corte and has a 24-hour concierge service, have sold for up to £500,000 over the past three years since it was built.
Crews from Deptford, New Cross and Lewisham were among the 58 firefighters at the scene, while police and ambulance staff were also present.
Firefighters said they received 16 calls about the blaze, which was under control by 5.23am. The cause of the fire is under investigation, LFB added.
Paramedics and police were also at the scene. Pictures posted by the London Ambulance Service showed a number of emergency vehicles outside the block.
Firefighters said they received 16 calls about the blaze, which was under control by 5.23am
The A20 was partially closed while emergency crews were at the scene.
Today marks 12 months since a small kitchen fire at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, West London, took hold of the block – killing 72 people.
A major safety failure at Grenfell was found to be the flammable aluminium and polyethylene cladding installed on the tower’s facade during a recent renovation.
More than 300 towers around Britain have similar combustible cladding. The cladding on three buildings in the Lewisham area failed government fire-safety tests last summer, but Roma Corte was not one of them.