Fire brigade battles Gambier House tower block inferno
Families evacuated as flames engulf flats
Published: 16 April 2010
by JOSH LOEB
RESIDENTS were living in flats without gas or electricity after a fire in a tower block.
Around 55 people were evacuated from Gambier House, near Old Street, when the blaze started on the third floor. They were taken to a nearby hall where they stayed for five hours, with the Salvation Army providing food as crews from 10 fire engines battled the flames.
Ray Yates, manager of Gambier House, said the flat was ablaze within 20 minutes and that firefighters kicked down doors and rescued an elderly woman from the building.
On Monday the Tribune found three floors of the 19-floor building blackened by smoke and damp because of the large amounts of water the fire crews used to put out the flames.
Tenants from the floor where the fire broke out were provided with accommodation in a hotel at the expense of Homes for Islington (HfI), the landlord, but on Monday residents on the floors below were living in flats without electricity or gas.
Tenant Steve McIntire said: “It’s damp. It’s not a healthy environment.” Mr McIntire also said he believed the fire brigade were heavy-handed in their use of water.
He said: “They flooded the floor where the fire was.
“Water was coming down like a waterfall.”
On Tuesday HfI said electricity had been restored and that restoration work would be carried out soon.
A spokeswoman said: “HfI worked with the police, the fire service, the Tenant Management Organisation, Islington Council’s emergency planning team and residents to make the area and the homes safe.
“The council provided emergency accommodation to anyone who needed it, although most affected people chose to make their own arrangements.
“HfI has sent letters and visited the residents in Gambier House informing them of what has happened and who to contact if they have any further concerns.
“Electricity has been restored to all the homes and the Central Street area housing office is continuing to support people who are currently displaced.
“Remedial repair and redecoration works to the stairwells and the communal areas that were damaged by smoke are currently being planned and will implemented as quickly as possible.”