Estate fire could have proved fatal

• I WRITE to voice my deep concern about the fire that occurred on Rowley Way on Sunday January 10 and I, and many others who live on the estate who witnessed it have some serious questions.
The fire gutted a one-bedroom flat and spread to the balcony of the flat above before it was brought under control.
I live opposite and, along with many neighbours, witnessed the fire brigade arriving and what followed.
Rather than driving onto the estate through the gate the fire engine stayed on the road and the fire officers ran a hose down, only to find it was too short to reach.
Valuable time was lost as they called back and forth to add an extension to the hose. During these crucial two-three minutes the fire grew from billowing smoke and burst through the front balcony window and from there spread to the balcony of the flat above.
As the firemen fought to extend the hose we watched in horror expecting the fire to spread to upstairs from one flat to the next.
A year ago there was an arson attack on Ainsworth Way and in the aftermath questions asked about why the fire brigade could not gain access through the gate to deal quickly with the fire on that occasion. Officers from Camden Council, the police and fire brigade visited a tenants’ meeting and assured us that they would sort out the fact that they did not have the correct key.
I do not know why they could not get onto the estate on Sunday, but, given the problems last year and the severity of this fire, residents feel very unhappy with this.
The fire was fairly close to the Abbey Road end of the estate. Had it been further along the estate this would have been even more serious.
The fire and smoke damage to the flat above was severe and the man living there is disabled. Fortunately he got out. But a large number of those one-bedroom flats have couples with children living in them.
So our first question is, why did Camden not learn lessons from the last fire regarding access to the estate?
Why have tenants been put in such grave danger?
Residents on the tenants’ and residents’ association have repeatedly asked the council to remove temporary wooden structures which some residents have built on their balconies.
The council finally sent a letter around four months ago but has done nothing to enforce this.
Our second question is, despite tenants’ repeated requests, why has the council effectively done nothing to get rid of the numerous structures which have now been demonstrated to be a fire hazard?
Fortunately no one died on this occasion, but someone easily could have done.
We need to know that lessons will finally be learned and acted upon before someone dies and that our concerns have been listened to.
I hesitate to criticise the fire brigade who do such a great job but their actions also gave us serious misgivings.
Many of these problems might well stem from their not driving onto the estate.
The first problem was their misjudging the length of hose needed which added minutes to the time it took to get the fire under control.
Once they did get the hose connected all of us noticed that the hose had many holes half-way (this was in the hose itself rather than at a connecting point) along through which several jets of water went jetting out affecting water pressure.
Why did they have faulty equipment?
After a few minutes officers ran a second hose, but before it was fully connected someone turned the water on so that the hose began jumping around shooting water uncontrollably at the as yet unconnected end.
Two officers jumped on the hose and shouted desperately to their colleagues 50 yards away to cut the water off. They then connected the second hose and finally got a good jet onto the fire which had now blown the glass out of the front of the balcony above the fire and chairs were now burning.
There are numerous witnesses to these problems and, of course, we are not experts; but in our view these mistakes made the fire far more dangerous.
Residents needs answers to these questions and need to know that fires will be dealt with more effectively in the future.
MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Resident, Rowley Way