Twelve fire engines and more than 80 firefighters rushed to battle a raging fire at a Shadwell tower block yesterday.
Emergency services were called to Shearsmith House, a 24-story tower block in Tower Hamlets, at 12:16pm after the 15th floor became engulfed in flames.
Ameen Ashabir, who lives on the 12th floor was terrified after being forced to flee the flames in his pyjamas.
He said: “There was no fire alarm that went off. I was asleep as I work night shifts and was only woken up as my friend called me.”
Mohammed Khan, the building manager, had to single-handedly run around knocking on apartment doors as no building alarm went off initially.
However he assured reporters that all protocols were followed.
One resident who lives in another nearby tower block said: “The same thing happened to our building in 2019. We have no safety here, our children have no safety, our old people have no safety.”
A firefighter responding to the scene said that any tower block fire requires a minimum of five fire engines to be called, however due to the nature of and intensity of this fire they were forced to call out a further seven to help tackle the blaze.
Iman El-Khawaka, who had been working from home on the 18th floor, said: “We saw huge flames coming out of the balcony and immediately ran downstairs, where we passed the fireman on the 15th floor trying to put out the blaze. It was scary but I am glad there are no casualties.”
Two apartments have been destroyed in the fire, but there have been no reported casualties.
It took authorities just over an hour to get the inferno under control.
Residents had to wait outside in the biblical rain for almost three hours while the fire department tested the air quality in the building and ensured it was safe to return.
Residents were allowed back in at 3:01pm. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Join the discussion