A 45-story building in Dagenham, east London, caught fire in the early hours of Monday, August 26.
According to Sky News, 225 firefighters are responding to a major incident. During the search and rescue operation, they rescued 20 people from the burning tower and safely evacuated over 80 people, including women and children.
Forty-five engines took part in the rescue operation. London Fire Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne said that the first three fire engines arrived within six minutes.
Goulbourne paid tribute to the emergency workers for instantly responding to the fire ‘in the most dangerous conditions,’ and said, “The building has a number of fire safety issues known to London Fire Brigade.”
Moreover, two people were taken to the hospital, while four were treated by the London Ambulance Service (LAS).
The resident of the building, Kasia Stantke, who was woken up by banging, told Sky News, “I got out of bed and looked out the window, and I saw flames climbing up to our balcony. I woke my partner and said, There's a fire; it's spreading quickly.”
She further added, “There was no fire alarm, nothing went off when we ran out of the flats, we just saw some neighbours, we looked at each other and said, 'Are you okay?' and tried to wake up a few others, but there were no fire alarms."
Furthermore, the reason for the fire is still unknown.
