Two hundred firefighters battle Dagenham flats blaze
More than 100 people said to have been moved to safety
Last updated 26th Aug 2024
Forty fire engines and around 225 firefighters are battling a blaze at a block of flats on Freshwater Road in Dagenham, East London.
Two people have been taken to hospital, with two others treated at the scene.
It's being reported that more than 100 people were evacuated from the building, The capital's fire commissioner says it has a 'number of fire safety issues'.
It's currently covered in scaffolding, and approval had been given to replace cladding.
The London Fire Brigade says it was called at 2.44am on Bank Holiday Monday (26 August) with crews from Dagenham, Ilford, Romford, Barking and surrounding fire stations at the scene.
Speaking at a press conference, Assistant Fire Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne said: "In total, 40 fire engines and around 225 firefighters are at the scene.
"To allow us to focus on the incident, we have declared a major incident. The building has a number of fire safety issues known to the London Fire Brigade."
The brigade said parts of the scaffolding surrounding the building, as well as the ground floor and the roof, were alight.
Gouldbourne added: "The brigade has stood up its full strategic response arrangements to deal with it incident and arrest centre has been set up at Becontree Heath Leisure Centre, London Fire Brigade officers with our partners are stationed at the rest centre to support residents."
He went on to appeal to residents living in the locality of the fire to "keep their windows and doors closed for the time being", with drivers being urged to "avoid the area where possible".
A "full and thorough" investigation into the cause of the fire is now underway, according to the brigade and updates will be given on this in due course.
The fire took hold just before 3am on Monday
Danesh Raj's six-year-old daughter was staying with friends at a sleepover inside, and told us: "They started getting the smoke smell at around 3am. They sensed that, because of the noise, there's a fire.
"They had a six month [old] baby. [They] managed to grab the baby and... get out of the building"
"And they had a six month old baby as well. So managed to grab the baby and my daughter and they managed to get out of the building. I think when they stepped out, the fire engines started coming to the building."
Mr Raj says the children are "calm now", but were "terrified" initially.
"Heavy smoke"
Station Commander Alan Bendell, who is at the scene of the fire, said: "The fire is producing heavy smoke and we're advising local residents to keep windows and doors closed.
"Two of the Brigade's 32-metre turntable ladders are being used at the scene as aerial water towers to assist with tackling the fire from height.
"Freshwater Road is closed to traffic, so please avoid the area where possible."
Grenfell United, which represents bereaved families from the Grenfell Tower disaster in west London in 2017, posted on social media that their "thoughts are with all those impacted by the fire in Dagenham this morning," adding "We hope all residents are safe and adequately cared for by the authorities."
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And the group "End Our Cladding Scandal" called for urgent action to make homes safe from cladding - although the cause of the blaze and whether cladding played a part in its spread is not yet known.
Local MP Margaret Mullane said the fire had resulted in "minimal" injuries because of the swift response of the emergency services.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Dagenham and Rainham MP wrote: "Terrible scenes in Dagenham this morning as @LondonFire tackle the blaze at Freshwater Rd.
"Thanks to their rapid response injury was minimal. I will be visiting the rescue centre today to see what help and support I can offer the residents and businesses who have lost everything."
Community coming together
Following the news of the fire, Barking and Dagenham Council said they were working with residents who had been impacted by the fire.
The Council also said that they were offering their support and resources to residents, and urged well-wishers not to bring donations to where residents had been evacuated to.
An online page for donations is to be set up in due course, according to the Council, so that residents can remain safe, with minimal disruption to the co-ordinated response.