Tower block fire safety probe urged
Updated on 06 July 2009
Calls are growing for a full public inquiry into fire safety in high-rise buildings after six people died in a tower block blaze.
Police forensic officers and fire investigators are still searching Lakanal House in Camberwell, south London, to find the cause of Friday's blaze and discover why it spread so quickly.
Local Labour councillor Ian Wingfield said he would be writing to the Government urging an inquiry into the cause of the fire.
He said: "We need to look not only at the cause of this tragedy and establish what is needed to prevent it re-occurring, but it also becomes a larger national issue because this is not the only block like this in the country. There are thousands of others and this is an issue of national significance."
Mr Wingfield, who is Labour spokesman for public housing in the borough of Southwark, said there was "a lot" of public support for an inquiry.
"We don't want to have six separate inquests on top of all the separate investigations being done by the council, the fire service and others. We need something immediate," he said.
"There is a sister block that is exactly the same design to Lakanal House and the residents there haven't been able to sleep since Friday night because, until we know the cause, they can't be sure the same thing won't happen there."
Harriet Harman, the area's MP, said people were "asking questions" about its fire escape routes.
"There will have to be a thorough investigation into what caused this fire and whether the prevention was adequate," she said.
Several residents described the complicated layout of the tower block, which had undergone a £3 million refurbishment programme two years ago, as "a maze" and said it made the evacuation difficult.
About 175 people have visited an emergency centre set up to help those left homeless by the fire and officials have said it is likely to be "days if not weeks" before they can return to the block.
London Mayor Boris Johnson is visiting Peckham fire station to meet the crews who fought the blaze.
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