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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGrenfell tower cladding
In 2014 a newish apartment block in Melbourne caught fire. A discarded cigarette ignited material on an eighth-floor balcony and the fire progressed up the outside of the building, to the 21st floor in eleven minutes. The fire was limited to the exterior of the building. No one was seriously hurt.
The investigation revealed that the cladding on the tower was not compliant with the building codes and corners had been cut to save money.
The SAME type of cladding was used on the LaCrosse Building (Melbourne) and Grenfell Tower in London.
/snip
We never expected to see a high-rise fire, particularly one in a new building, that would spread so quickly from the eighth floor to the 21st floor.
Australias national science agency, the CSIRO, conducted tests on the cladding and found it was combustible and did not meet building codes.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/15/cladding-in-2014-melbourne-high-rise-blaze-also-used-in-grenfell-tower
global1
(25,270 posts)identify all the buildings in the world that installed this cladding? It needs to be removed from all buildings and pulled off the market.
canetoad
(17,184 posts)I just checked when the cladding was installed on Grenfell Tower - 2015-16. A year or more after the Melbourne fire. No excuses.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)Princess Turandot
(4,787 posts)the renovations that included the exterior panels (which appear to be a factor in the fire) were finished in 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenfell_Tower_fire
regnaD kciN
(26,045 posts)...is that this "renovation" was done not to benefit the building's residents, but that so their wealthy neighbors could have a more-attractive view. (The tower was low-cost housing in an otherwise-upscale area.
Anyone want to bet, after they demolish what's left of the tower, they build luxury condos in its place? They'll probably make a neat profit off of the events.
Rollo
(2,559 posts)cos dem
(903 posts)I guess we don't suck at everything. At least not yet.
czarjak
(11,289 posts)Warpy
(111,339 posts)The cheap aluminum clad styrene panels that have caused so many nasty high rise fires around the world are banned in the US. While there are companies advertising "low combustion" plastic insulation materials, their own tests showed the stuff burning brightly while heat was applied to it. About the only insulation material that passed all tests is mineral wool.
People in the area are correct, this is a disaster just waiting to happen. Anger is building and I sincerely hope this is enough to get it removed from any building it has been installed on.
Let's also hope they discover the wisdom of a sprinkler system to protect halls and stairwells. Those would have bought people a lot of time, maybe enough to get most out of that building.
There's a reason so many recent high rise fires around the world (especially in the UAE) look similar: that cladding turned them into firetraps as it allowed fire to rocket up the outside of the building.
canetoad
(17,184 posts)About how much of this combustible, non-compliant cladding is actually on buildings here.
"Australian buildings are cloaked in "millions of square metres" of flammable cladding, and authorities have been aware of the safety threat since at least 2010.
In the wake of London's deadly tower fire, Fairfax Media can reveal the Australian Building Codes Board was told seven years ago that combustible cladding was widely installed across the nation."
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/london-tower-fire-could-happen-here-australian-buildings-cloaked-in-flammable-cladding-20170615-gws15r.html
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In the Melbourne fire, the building was fitted with sprinklers but the balconies were not. Now this was practically a brand new tower; commissioned in 2010. Apparently the balcony sprinklers were cancelled at the last minute.
I get beyond anger at the thought of people who risk the lives of others by saving money on safety neccessities.