Hundreds of homes in Camden tower block evacuated over fire safety

More than 700 flats in tower blocks in Camden, north-west London, evacuated over fire risk fears.

Over 700 flats in tower blocks on an estate in the Swiss Cottage of north-west London have been evacuated because of fire-safety concerns, with Camden Council saying it was due to the need for “urgent fire safety works”.

Residents of the estate attended a public meeting with council officials on Thursday evening.

The council’s Labour leader, Georgia Gould, said the decision to evacuate the buildings was made at 18:30 BST on Friday.

She said the fire service “told us they could not guarantee our residents’ safety in those blocks”.

The estate’s cladding is similar to Grenfell Tower in west London, where a fire is feared to have killed 79.

Chalcots was refurbished between 2006 and 2009 by the same firm, Rydon, that oversaw work at Grenfell Tower in 2015-16. The council plan to remove the externa thermal cladding from five tower blocks on the Chalcots estate. Concerns were also raised about the insulation of gas pipes going into flats, and fire doors.

The council initially announced the evacuation of one tower block, Taplow, but later extended the move to all five tower blocks it had checked. One of the five tower blocks, Blashford, which is smaller and has “several different design elements”, was announced as safe early Sunday morning allowing residents to return.

The council then secured hotel rooms and emergency accommodation at Swiss Cottage leisure centre and at the Camden Centre in King’s Cross.

The council’s Labour leader, Georgia Gould, said the decision to evacuate the buildings was made at 18:30 BST on Friday.

“We’re encouraging all residents to stay with friends and family if they can, otherwise we’ll provide accommodation,” the council said.

“I know it’s difficult, but Grenfell changes everything and I just don’t believe we can take any risk with our residents’ safety and I have to put them first,” Ms Gould said.

The work is expected to take three to four weeks. Residents will be allowed in under escort from the fire brigade at the weekend, to collect more belongings.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said other areas, such as Plymouth and Manchester, had seen measures introduced such as 24-hour fire wardens and did not need evacuating.

“What was very different here is that the local fire service found multiple other failures in fire safety that should have already been in place in the towers, and as a result of that, they’ve made this quite correct decision.”

Mr Javid also said the government would “work with” any local authorities and housing associations that needed financial support to carry out necessary fire safety work in tower blocks.

“Public safety is absolutely paramount, you cannot put a price on people’s lives. So local authorities have to do whatever it takes to get their buildings safe.”

A national operation to identify buildings with cladding similar to that used in Grenfell Tower has seen local authorities send samples for independent tests.

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