An e-bike sparked a fire on the 12th floor of a West London tower block, less than a mile away from Grenfell Tower, where 72 people died following a blaze in 2017.
Firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene of a blaze at a high-rise block on Queensdale Crescent in Shepherd’s Bush, Tuesday morning.
A resident of the block of flats said the fire began when his friend was charging an e-bike in his home.
Latest: 60 firefighters have been tackling a fire in a 12th floor flat in W11 close to Grenfell Tower. No reports yet of any injuries says @londonfire pic.twitter.com/zT0XyZ7WDZ
— BBC Radio London (@BBCRadioLondon) June 21, 2022
Liiban Shakat, of Stebbing House, Shepherd’s Bush, said his visitor, whom he named as Abid Naser Mohamed, woke him up on Tuesday morning with a “black mouth” from the smoke and led him to the guest bedroom, which was engulfed in flames.
Mr Mohamed was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, Mr Shakat said.
The 38-year-old, who has lived in the building for more than 20 years, recalled watching the Grenfell Tower blaze from the same flat that caught fire on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters outside the building and still wearing his macawis – a traditional Somali style of pyjamas – he said: “He forces me to wake up. I follow him. I went into the room and the whole room is on fire. I ran to the sink, I got a bucket of water and I tried to discourage the fire and then it got worse.”
He added: “[My friend] was in the room that caught on fire. He was in the bed. His mouth was black because he inhaled so much smoke.”
Mr Shakat said no fire alarm or sprinklers had gone off and he was allegedly unable to use the lift, which automatically shuts down when there is a fire, to escape the building.
“I was in shock,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do.”
In a statement on Twitter, London Ambulance Service said:
We were called at 9.45am to reports of a fire at a block of flats on Queensdale Crescent.
— London Ambulance Service 💙 (@Ldn_Ambulance) June 21, 2022
We sent resources to the scene, including two ambulances and our Hazardous Area Response Team.
Two patients were assessed at the scene and another was treated and taken to hospital. https://t.co/IlD8ml0DC7
At least a dozen emergency services vehicles lined the streets surrounding the building fielding inquiries in the aftermath and some residents put out towels and began sunbathing in a green area outside as they waited to return to their flats.
Video from the scene showed a badly charred and blackened window on the 12th floor, with soot and ash coating windows around the affected flat.
Meanwhile, emergency services were called to a separate apartment fire in Manor Park where part of a flat on the 13th floor of a 15-storey block was alight.
Around 60 people left the building before approximately 100 firefighters arrived.
