Huge blaze engulfs 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London

[vorlon13]

Flammable retrofitted cladding seems to have rapidly and thoroughly compromised buildings inherent fire resistance.

Dorm I lived in many years ago had the standard policy of simply closing the door to any dorm room that was on fire. Building was rated, IIRC, to withstand a fire in a room for 2 hours before it would propagate. Grenfell Tower appeared compromised in minutes.

Hell, neighbors garage burned several years ago and drywall between house and garage kept fire out of house for 1/2 hour till fire dept got there. These are not terribly difficult construction features to engineer into a building.

[ignoramus]

Guys, they haven't found the cause.
My mind went to Isis.

Running over people was popular, now they just start fires on a low level of a high rise building and kill more AND get away with it. Pretty scary, huh.

[vorlon13]

Odd behavior of the new cladding material on building exterior is evident in footage available now. Original cause of the fire is almost a moot point for how the cladding rapidly ducted the fire all over the exterior of the building so rapidly.

A multi unit apartment building of any variety should inherently be capable of containing a fire in a single unit for what, at least a 1/2 hour? And that 1/2 hour should be achievable without sprinklers or other fire suppression apparatus.

I note my older home lacks a drywall barrier between the garage and the house. Any fire in the garage would rapidly spread to the attic thru the access hatch (plywood) and burn the house down rapidly.

[Autumnlicious]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017...-exteriors

They saved 2 pounds per square meter by using a flammable insulation. And they used a shiny but highly flammable paint for the exterior. It was a fucking kiln waiting to happen.

All to save a small amount of money.

I've witnessed some clowns on Facebook passing a Daily Caller article claiming it was because of "Green regulations". As opposed to cheaping out and buying flammable materials?! Not a day goes by where I seriously wonder about the pervese economic incentives for rags like the Daily Caller and how to destroy it.

[downbeatplumb]

An interview this morning from the Housing Minister said that the foam used to stick the cladding on a Grenfell was illegal in all the EU.

[vorlon13]

Is that the same stuff that burned off New Years Eve a few years ago on that building near the Burj Khalifa ??

[vorlon13]

Well, found this snippet on the Dubai fire.  Sounds like the same deadly stuff.




Dramatic fires have hit skyscrapers in Dubai and other fast-growing cities in the United Arab Emirates in recent years. Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable. Authorities say they’ve changed fire safety rules in the sheikhdom to address the danger, but have offered few details.







and a obvious question arises, there wouldn't be much (any?)  cost pressure for Dubai to have selected such a dangerous exterior treatment, so does the material have other appealing characteristics/properties  to explain why builders keep opting to use it ?

[Jackalope]

Are you assuming that rich people aren't cheap?

[Foxaèr]

Are you assuming that rich people aren't cheap?

They're not.

[Jackalope]

Are you assuming that rich people aren't cheap?

They're not.

When it comes to spending on other people? They are.