Dagenham: Mother who fled huge blaze in block of flats says fire gate had been 'padlocked shut'

A mother who fled a huge blaze that tore through her block of flats in east London has revealed alarms failed to go off and a fire gate had been “padlocked shut”.

Cydney Parker discovered a fire broke out at the Spectrum building in Dagenham when she looked through her front door and saw thick black smoke covering the corridor in the early hours of Monday morning.

The 26-year-old told SkyNews she tried to escape but discovered that a fire escape had been cut off.

Cydney Parker, 26, described how she ran for her life while still in her pyjamas when a fire broke out at the Spectrum building (Sky News)

The mother told the broadcaster: "We had to run and we realised that the [exterior] fire gate had been padlocked shut so we couldn't get out.

"It felt like I was going to die then and there.

"The only way out was finding something [we could use] to jump over the fence.

“As we were on top of the fence, we couldn't get down, so we were screaming at police officers to come and help us."

The London Fire Brigade were called to the incident at 2.44 am on Monday morning (PA Media)

Multiple residents in the building have complained no fire alarms went off during the emergency.

Mrs Parker continued: “No alarms went off.

"They have gone off so many times for no reason and the time we need them to go off they didn't go off.

"That block needs to get shut down and we all need to get housed - I hope they are all as angry as me."

The mother-of-two now fears she has lost all of her possessions.

The fire brigade said the building had ‘known’ fire safety issues (PA Wire)

All people were “accounted for” after the fire on Monday engulfed the building in Dagenham which had “known” safety issues, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

An investigation will look at the role cladding played into the fire, the Brigade said.

The property was undergoing “remedial” work to remove and replace “non-compliant cladding” on the fifth and sixth floors containing flats, according to a planning application document.

Forty-five engines and around 225 firefighters responded to the blaze in Dagenham (PA Wire)

The brigade was called to the blaze in Freshwater Road at 2.44am, and 45 engines and around 225 firefighters responded to the incident.

Twenty people were rescued following a “significant search-and-rescue operation”, after the fire broke out in the building that is used for residential and commercial purposes, said LFB. More than 80 people were evacuated.

Four people were treated at the scene by paramedics, with two taken to hospital.

The Standard has contacted the building’s management company for comment.