The Barking fire was a structure fire that occurred on 9 June 2019 at a newly built six storey block of flats named Samuel Garside House, located in De Pass Gardens, Barking, London, the United Kingdom.
The Barking fire was a structure fire that occurred on 9 June 2019 at a newly built six storey block of flats named Samuel Garside House, located in De Pass Gardens, Barking, London, the United Kingdom.
Samuel Garside House is part of Barking Riverside. The six storey block was built by Bellway Homes, and sold on to a private landlord, Adriatic Land 3 (GR1) Limited, [1] [2] an investment vehicle created by fund manager Longharbour. [3]
Residents had complained that the use of wood on the flats was unsafe. [4] The developer, Bellway Homes, assured them that the wood cladding was fire retardant.
Peter Mason, chair of the Barking Reach residents' association contacted the builder in May 2019 to ask for the fire risk to be investigated after watching a BBC Watchdog report that highlighted fire safety problems at two other developments. He was told via e-mail not to worry, as the construction method was different to the ones in the report. [1] [5]
The fire started at 3.30 pm, 9 June 2019 [6] at a newly built six storey block of flats named Samuel Garside House, [7] located in De Pass Gardens, Barking, London, United Kingdom. The developers believe the fire to have been started by a fallen-over barbecue on a fourth floor balcony. [8] It spread rapidly engulfing the wooded balconies. [9] Residents stated afterwards that the fire alarm was not triggered, [10] nor did the sprinkler system activate. [5] Residents informed their neighbours by banging on doors. [11] The fire brigade attended and initially were hampered by finding a water supply. [12] They deployed 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters. [5] The fire was declared to be under control at 6.30 pm.[ citation needed ] Ten flats were completely destroyed and 43 had varying levels of damage caused by the fire. [13]
There were no deaths or serious injuries; two residents were treated for smoke inhalation. [1]
Barking and Dagenham Council commissioned a review [14] of the Samuel Garside House fire, and a report was published in January 2021. [15] An independent, resident-led inquiry was conducted under the lead of the Barking Reach Residents' Association and a report was published on 10 May 2020. [16] It included, among others, a testimony from a fire safety expert, Dr Jonathan Evans. [17]
According to Inside Housing magazine, a report prepared by Osterna for the building managers RMG had said the external cladding, wooden joists and deck balconies were "a significant hazard" and recommended both that a responsible person should check whether the wood had been appropriately treated and that the residents should be advised not to use barbecues on the balconies. The builders Bellway Homes claimed not to have seen that report before the fire. [18] An investigation of other blocks post fire found 'faulty fire doors, broken smoke alarms and combustible cladding', while the original developer Bellway said fire protection measures inside 'received all regulatory approvals' and 'ensured occupants were safely evacuated'. [19]
Also according to Inside Housing the material used for the cladding and decking was ThermoWood, which was banned for use on buildings over 18 metres high (these flats being 13.75m high) and has a class D rating. [7] [20] [21] Inside Housing found twenty low rise developments where its use had been authorised. [7]
As a consequence of the fire, the wooden balconies and elevation fragments have been replaced on both Samuel Garside House, and its twin block on the same estate, Ernest Websdale House. [22] [23]
The event has featured in many reports [24] [25] and articles [26] [27] highlighting the lack of fire safety improvements and remediation following the Grenfell Tower fire.
The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. The borough was created in 1965 as the London Borough of Barking; the name was changed in 1980. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway; an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. At the 2011 census it had a population of 187,000. The borough's three main towns are Barking, Chadwell Heath and Dagenham. The local authority is the Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council. Barking and Dagenham was one of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Dagenham is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred 11.5 miles (18.5 km) east of Charing Cross.
Barking is a riverside town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is 9.3 miles (15 km) east of Charing Cross. The total population of Barking was 59,068 at the 2011 census. In addition to an extensive and fairly low-density residential area, the town centre forms a large retail and commercial district, currently a focus for regeneration. The former industrial lands to the south are being redeveloped as Barking Riverside.
Bellway p l c is a residential property developer and housebuilder based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer and house-builder based in Cobham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Barking Riverside is a mixed-use development in the area of Barking, east London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is being built on land formerly occupied by Barking Power Station, adjacent to the River Thames, and is 10.5 miles (16.9 km) east of Charing Cross. The 440 acre brownfield site has planning permission for 10,800 homes.
The Address Downtown, formerly The Address Downtown Dubai, is a 63-story, 302.2 m (991 ft) supertall hotel and residential skyscraper in the Burj Dubai Development Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was built by Emaar Properties.
Beam Park is a new neighbourhood in the south of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Havering. It is named after the River Beam which forms the boundary between the boroughs. It is part of the London Riverside opportunity area and is designated with neighbouring Rainham as a housing zone by the Greater London Authority. It covers an area of 29 hectares. It will include a town centre in the Havering part of the development and will be served by Beam Park railway station. Much of the land previously part of the Ford Dagenham site is being redeveloped as a joint venture between London and Quadrant and Countryside Properties. Planning consent for 3,000 homes was issued in February 2019 and construction began in May 2019. The first residents moved into Beam Park in December 2020. Planning permission was given for 947 additional homes in December 2022
Thames View Estate is a large housing estate in Barking and Dagenham in East London, England.
The Lakanal House fire occurred in a tower block on 3 July 2009 in Camberwell, London. Six people were killed, and at least 20 injured, when a high-rise fire, caused by a faulty television set, developed and spread through a number of flats in the twelve-storey building.
The New Providence Wharf is a residential development in the Blackwall district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, at the north end of the Blackwall Tunnel. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and is managed by Ballymore, a property development company.
Cladding is the application of one material over another to provide a skin or layer. In construction, cladding is used to provide a degree of thermal insulation and weather resistance, and to improve the appearance of buildings. Cladding can be made of any of a wide range of materials including wood, metal, brick, vinyl, and composite materials that can include aluminium, wood, blends of cement and recycled polystyrene, wheat/rice straw fibres. Rainscreen cladding is a form of weather cladding designed to protect against the elements, but also offers thermal insulation. The cladding does not itself need to be waterproof, merely a control element: it may serve only to direct water or wind safely away in order to control run-off and prevent its infiltration into the building structure. Cladding may also be a control element for noise, either entering or escaping. Cladding can become a fire risk by design or material.
Beam Park railway station is a planned railway station to serve the new community of Beam Park. Intended to serve a redeveloped former industrial area with extremely poor access to public transport, plans for the station have been in development since at least 2002. Beam Park is a large housing development that extends from the London Borough of Havering, where the new station is proposed to be sited, into the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. The construction costs of the station have been met by developers in the area and the Greater London Authority. The station received planning permission in February 2019. As of July 2024 the Department for Transport has not authorised the introduction of passenger services at the station.
Ballymore Group is an Ireland-based international property development company. The majority of the company's employees and business activities are located in the UK.
Barking Riverside is a railway station in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, East London. The station serves the Barking Riverside regeneration area, and was built as part of a £327m extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking line to the area. It opened on 18 July 2022. It is served by London Overground, and provides interchange with the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers boat service from Barking Riverside Pier.
Hyde Group is a housing association in London. It is a member of the G15. It operates in London, the South East, the East of England and the East Midlands.
On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. Seventy people died at the scene and two people died later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escaping. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha oil-platform disaster and the worst UK residential fire since the Blitz of World War II.
Tower blocks are high-rise buildings for residential use. These blocks began to be built in Great Britain after the Second World War. The first residential tower block, "The Lawn", was constructed in Harlow, Essex, in 1951; it is now a Grade II listed building. In many cases, tower blocks were seen as a "quick-fix" to cure problems caused by the existence of crumbling and unsanitary 19th-century dwellings or to replace buildings destroyed by German aerial bombing. It was argued that towers surrounded by public open space could provide for the same population density as the terraced housing and small private gardens they replaced, offering larger rooms and improved views, whilst being cheaper to build.
The United Kingdom cladding crisis, also known as the cladding scandal, is an ongoing social crisis that followed the Grenfell Tower fire of 14 June 2017 and the Bolton Cube fire of 15 November 2019. The fires revealed that large numbers of buildings had been clad in dangerously combustible materials, comprising a combination of flammable cladding and/or flammable insulation.
The Freshwater Road fire was a fire that broke out in the Spectrum Building, a block of flats on Freshwater Road, Dagenham on 26 August 2024. Four people were injured and treated at the scene with a further two being taken to hospital. Comparisons were immediately drawn to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire by several news outlets.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Districts |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Attractions | ||
| Places of worship | ||
| Parks and open spaces | ||
| Constituencies |
| |
| Tube and rail stations | ||
| Other topics | ||
