When the London Fire Brigade was called to the eight-storey Spectrum House on Freshwater Road in Dagenham at 02.44 hours on 26th August 2024, it took 40 engines and 225 firefighters more than eight hours to tackle the fire.
More than 80 people were evacuated from the building and at least 20 were rescued by firefighters; two were taken to hospital.
While the fire brigade is investigating the cause of the fire, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is looking into the cladding remediation works that were under way when the fire occurred.
As previously reported, Spectrum House was an office block that was converted to residential use in 2015 with 60 apartments. Surveys conducted in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire revealed that the high-pressure laminate (HPL) cladding was unsafe. This was being replaced with Valcan’s A1 VitraDual cladding at the time of the fire.
The HSE said that it was investigating how the cladding remediation works were organised and undertaken, and whether this was a factor in the fire.
It is also looking into whether the principal accountable person for the building had discharged their duties under Part 4 of the Building Safety Act in relation to spread of fire.
