Fire In Manchester Apartment Block

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-42524546

Fingers crossed !

[Gromit]

Looks like the fire has spread between floors, which is not supposed to happen.

[marval]

Lets hope nobody is killed or badly hurt.

[Mamyalynne]

Hope and pray people are safe.

[sp1814]

mikey4444

According to the report:

The fire now appeared to be under control, after it was "doused quite quickly".

Thank goodness.

Must've been pretty terrifying for the residents after Grenfell.

[Gromit]

I know the area quite well. Didn’t know it was resudential, assumed it was hotel.

[Mamyalynne]

This has been handled well and quickly, a lucky escape for many thank goodness.

[Eleena]

Just behind the Unicorn!

[tonyav]

A bit of film on this link.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/blaze-tackled-at-building-in-manchester%E2%80%99s-northern-quarter/ar-BBHwaWf

[Eleena]

Was bad, just over the road from the Abel Heywood.

[Gromit]

I had something to eat in the Yadgar this afternoon, but missed it.

[emmie]

i hope that there were no fatalities.

[Eve]

There is an apart hotel around there as well as a lot of apartments. It seemed to be under control quite quickly and just one person taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. I had just gone by there in to the Arndale when it started, came back out at the back by where the fire was and there was a large cordon but seemed very under control thankfully. Local news says the fire began on the ninth floor and spread to the eighth, tenth and eleventh floors before it was brought under control.

[emmie]

terrifying all the same.

[Eve]

Indeed. Suggesting here that wooden balconies helped it spread, nothing to do with cladding:

https://news.sky.com/story/12-fire-engines-tackle-central-manchester-building-blaze-11189816

Many apartments have wooden balconies, one of the flats I lived in the city centre had a large wooden balcony. It was a bit of a concern in case anyone near had a barbeque on theirs which got out of hand, as I've known happen before. Things like that are usually banned but some people still seem to do it! Not suggesting that this, or any human error, was in any way a cause of this fire though.

Maybe there is some way of making them more fire-resistant to help to stop fires spreading.

[Gromit]

Thanks for that Eve.

Perhaps fire regs need to be changed, or better enforced. Seems like a mistake to allow balconies to be built with combustable material. In high rise buildings fires are not supposed to spread between floors,.

[mikey4444]

Gromit....my best guess is that this is another lesson to be learned.

But I find it difficult to understand why barbecues are not banned on balconies in the first place....seems like an accident waiting to happen to me.

[Gromit]

Mikey,
Eve has already said that barbeques are banned on balconies.

[mikey4444]

Sorry ....I missed that.

[Eve]

Definitely lessons to be learnt. Things like barbeques are typically banned on balconies but people still do it. A candle left unattended or a cigarette not put out could also cause a fire to spread, especially if there are other flammable things on the balcony like fabric on seating, throws etc... I also see a lot of privacy screens put up around the edge of balconies, quite often made of strips of wood or fabric, which could also easily set alight.