Quote:
Originally Posted by HelloKitty
|
It's doubtful it was the cause of the fire, but more likely they were an accelerant to a fire that began in the inside of the building.
And that's even assuming that those types of cladding were used in that building (that type of polyethylene foamcore cladding that was the cause of those Dubai skyscraper fires has only been in use in the construction industry for a little over the last decade and that building in England looked to be much older than that (built in 1974). Unless it had some refurbishments in the period since then in the last decade*.
Regardless, it's plausible that as an accelerant, the cladding might have made what could have been a smaller fire contained or limited to one floor, much worse by spreading it up the rest of the building and providing a alternative exterior path for the flames that circumvented the buildings inbuilt fire-retardant systems (such as sprinklers and fire-proofing of structural elements) - which are designed to prevent or reduce the spread of fire from floor to floor from the INSIDE of the building.
Edit : Reading the second article it seems the cladding might have made things worse in a different way than being an accelerant, i.e. by creating a 'wind tunnel effect' between the cladding superstructure and the insulation layer. Also it seems like the building had recently been re-cladded with newer cladding.
So it all depends on what type of cladding they used and what method of installation was employed and also if the building's fire safety standards had recently been reviewed to check and see if it complied with modern code.
A lot of times older buildings get grand-fathered into new system without checking to see if they conform to modern safety standards, and that may have happened in this case as well.
It also doesn't help in this case that the fire started in one of the lower floors (4th floor) and then spread upwards towards the rest of the 20 floors above it, cutting off the escape routes for a lot of people trapped in the floors above. Fire typically climbs upwards and rarely spreads down a building for obvious reasons.
*Yep.
It seems the building did undergo refurbishments recently to add the new cladding system, and for the stupidest reason imagineable.
Apparently the wealthier neighbours didn't want to look at an older bedraggled building that was built mostly for lower income families, and a planning ordinance was passed mandating the improvements, so as to 'improve the view' for their luxury-apartment dwelling neighbours.
If the cladding was the part of the cause of the fire (or made it worse) this would make it all even that much so worse still.
Prev
Linear Mode
