Residents 'did not hear alarms' during fatal tower fire

Some residents in an east London tower block have said they did not hear any alarms during a fire in which a man died on the 17th floor.

They told BBC London they had been alerted by neighbours banging on their doors and telling them to leave the building during the early hours of Saturday.

The man died in the flat fire at Neutron Tower in Poplar. Two adults and a child were rescued by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

FirstPort, the building's management company, said "it would not be appropriate for us to speculate on specific matters" while the fire was under investigation.

The LFB said: "There are a range of factors that are being investigated regarding the cause of the fire by the Brigade's Fire Investigation Team."

Residents said they had been alerted to the emergency by neighbours, who went along the corridors banging on doors and telling people to get out of the building.

Katarzyna, who lives on the fifth floor with her husband and two children, said: "A neighbour from the 19th floor, she smelled the smoke from her apartment.

"I heard someone shouting from outside and the neighbours from the 19th floor were outside shouting, 'fire, fire, out'.

"We grabbed our passports and got out - it was pandemonium and my husband was banging on all the doors on the fifth floor to alert neighbours.

"The staircase was pitch black when we walked down, there was no emergency lighting."

She added: "We have smoke and heat alarms in our flats, they did not go off."

Priya Armstrong-Pond, who lives on the seventh floor, said there had been flooding in the building on Friday.

"Around 5pm, I got a call saying there was water on the stairs and the landing – it was like torrential rain but inside.

"After that there was no water for roughly six hours, but they kept the electric on the whole time. It was on in my flat but not in the communal areas - and all the lifts had water in them as well."

She said she had been alerted by her next-door neighbour at around 04:30 on Saturday.

"He woke up and could hear shouting, so he knocked on everyone's doors," she said. "My neighbour was banging the door, there were no fire alarms going off.

"When we came out there was no lighting at all in the landing and nothing on the stairs. No concierge was there, no one was there to help us.

"By the time we all got downstairs, the whole [17th floor] flat was burnt out and the balcony was all gone."

Armstrong-Pond said many residents were now staying at a nearby hotel, but she had not been told when they would be able to return home.

She said: "People had to book rooms and use their own money."

Katarzyna said she had a hotel room booked until Tuesday, adding: "This building stood like a dark tower last night. It takes you back to Grenfell - a dark building in a sea of light."

FirstPort said it was "deeply saddened" by the man's death and "our thoughts are with his family, and everyone affected by this incident".

"Our immediate priority remains the safety of residents," it said. "All residents have been contacted, and our teams have been providing direct support since the incident, including arranging temporary accommodation where required.

"Our on-site team continues to support those affected and we will keep residents updated as further information becomes available and plans are made for their safe return home."

There was no confirmed timeframe for residents returning to their homes and any decision would be taken in conjunction with the emergency services when it was safe to do so, the firm added.

The LFB said it had been called at 04:35 and the fire was under control by 06:41. Half of the two-bedroom flat and balcony on the 17th floor had been destroyed, it added.

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