Some of the witnesses of the Grenfell Tower fire had to be evacuated from their own flats on Tuesday after a blaze in a nearby block, which was said to have been caused by the charging of an electric scooter battery.
The fire in a 12th-floor flat in Stebbing House, on Queensdale Crescent, less than a mile from Grenfell, was reported at 9.23am. It was under control by 10.55am after the London fire brigade sent eight engines and about 60 firefighters.
“We used new technology that enabled a caller to send live-stream videos of the incident straight into the brigade’s 999 call centre,” a spokesperson said.
No one was hurt, but at least one resident had a panic attack after the fire triggered memories of what happened at Grenfell five years ago last week.
Stephen Cowan, the Labour leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council, which owns the block, spoke to the Guardian after being briefed by the fire officers and police. He said: “It was caused by an electric scooter that was being charged. The guy had it in a bedroom and noticed smoke was coming out of it. He woke up in a panic, pulled the wire out and then threw water on the scooter, which caused a lot more smoke.”
One resident, Jeannie, who lives on the 12th floor of the block, said: “At first we couldn’t come out because the smoke was so black. The whole floor was filled with thick smoke.” She said she was helped out of her flat when the smoke began to clear.
“It wasn’t major in any way,” she said. “It just reminds us of Grenfell. I sat on my window and watched Grenfell burn. I’ve lived here for 50 years and it’s the first fire we’ve had. They’re putting sprinklers into our flats – I’ve been against the sprinklers. I hate them. But now I can see maybe they’re necessary.”
One woman vomited after the fire brought back the trauma of Grenfell. Shirvin Best, who lives in a neighbouring block and is a former member of the tenants’ association, said: “It has triggered some of our tenants. There’s a woman in our block who had a flashback. She was shopping and someone called her to say the block is on fire like Grenfell. And she ran back panicking. When she came back she saw it wasn’t her block but she was still panicking because it could have been.”
Cowan said the speed with which the fire was extinguished was a vindication of the decision to put in extra fire safety measures. “We’ve been told every system that was meant to work has worked,” he said. “We didn’t have confidence in the legislation, because there had been a lot of deregulation. We put fire doors on every flat, irrespective of who owns them. Sprinklers came on when they needed to come on. Special vents that closed off air flow all closed. And the evacuation went to plan.
“We began the slow process of making all our buildings safer than the legislation in 2016, which is thankfully what happened here and is why no one was hurt.”
He added: “There’s a big issue around people charging lithium batteries in flats, whether it’s a mobility scooter or an illegal scooter or some other form of transport.”
Cowan said the council would hold an emergency meeting about the fire on Wednesday.
Station commander David Bracewell, who was at the scene, said: “Firefighters dealt with a fire on the 12th floor of a tower block in W11. Three people from the affected flat left before the brigade arrived. A number of other residents evacuated the building.
“Firefighters led six residents to safety via an internal staircase. Further residents who were not affected by fire, heat or smoke were advised to remain in their flats.”
London ambulance service said it responded to the fire and was treating a number of patients at the scene. The ambulance service tweeted: “London ambulance service is responding to a fire in Queensdale Crescent, W11, alongside colleagues from the London fire brigade. We have dispatched multiple resources to the scene and are treating a number of patients.”
The Conservative MP for Kensington, Felicity Buchan, described news of the fire as “very concerning”.
