Whitechapel fire: Tower block residents claim not to have heard alarm

The fire broke out on the 17th floor of the building meaning crews have been utilising their 64m ladder.

The Brigade received 50 calls to the incident, the first coming in just before 4pm this afternoon.

The fire at a tower block in Whitechapel High Street. Picture: PA

Crews from Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Dowgate, Bethnal Green, Dockhead, Old Kent Road, Islington and surrounding fire stations are in attendance.

London Ambulance Service is advising people in the area to keep windows closed and stay indoors.

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Reaction to Whitechapel High Street fire

Among reactions to the tower block fire in Whitechapel today are residents saying they did not hear a fire alarm and were alerted to the situation by other people in the building.

“The important thing is that I’m alive”

Eric, 25, who did not want to give his full name, said he lived in a flat opposite where the fire started on the 17th floor of the block in Whitechapel.

He said: “I’m a bit dazed right now.”

He added that while he was not in the building he is concerned all his belongings would be ruined.

“My real estate agent called me and he asked if I was OK and said there was a fire in the flat on my floor. I’m worried that my stuff is wrecked but there is nothing I can do about it.

“The important thing is that I’m alive but everything I own is in that flat.”

He said it was “not ideal” but he was trying to look at the positives.

Around 15 fire engines and 125 firefighters attended the Whitechapel fire. Picture: PA

“I did not hear an alarm”

Lynn Ling, 25, a London School of Economics student from China who lives on the 20th floor with her husband Yuri, said the incident had been “very scary”.

Ms Ling, who was wearing a silver security blanket because she forgot her coat in the scramble to evacuate, told the PA news agency she was alerted to the fire by a friend who called her from the street at about it 4.30pm.

She said: “I did not hear an alarm. I think there was a fire alarm on the ground floor but I could not hear it clearly on the 20th. I went out of my door but I found there was smoke in the corridor so I went downstairs. I forgot to take my coat. It was very scary.”

She added that a firefighter on the 19th floor was knocking on doors telling people to leave.

“He said, ‘Don’t be scared’,” she added. “They were trying to protect us. He was nice.”

The 25-year-old said that when she was on her way down, a group of firemen “were about to go upstairs”.

Ms Ling said she did not know what had started the fire and added she was “very worried” about their possessions.

Her husband added they were not sure they would get back into their flat tonight and will be staying with a friend.

The fire broke out on the 17th floor of the building in Whitechapel High Street. Picture: PA

“There was no alarm on the 10th floor”

Rachel, from Nottinghamshire, who did not want to give her last name, said she was staying at a friend’s flat on the 10th floor of the block in Whitechapel as she visited London to celebrate her 50th birthday.

She said had been “really shaken” by the incident.

She added she had just arrived at the flat and was putting her things away when she smelled smoke.

“I saw the buses turning around outside and I thought something like a car accident had happened on the street,” she said. “I never thought for a second that there could be a fire.”

She said she put her head out into the corridor and heard a young boy scream: “Get out, there’s a fire.”

Rachel added: “If it had not been for him I would have had no idea there was a fire. There was no alarm on the 10th floor.”

Rachel, added: “There were mothers and babies on the street with social services sorting them out.

“I’m very shaky. I’m just worried about everyone who lives there. To not have any alarms in a building like that – all I can say is I live in a bungalow and I’m never leaving a bungalow.”

Asked where she would stay tonight, she said: “I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

Earlier in the evening flames had spread to a balcony on the 18th floor before fire crews put them out. Flames could later been seen through a window on the 19th floor.

A drone and a helicopter hovered near the building as firefighters worked to put out the flames.