People feared trapped as huge blaze engulfs west London tower block

A MASSIVE blaze has engulfed a block of flats in west London with witnesses reporting people being trapped in their homes.

London Fire Brigade says there have been fatalities but cannot give a number.

London Ambulance Service said 30 people had been taken to five hospitals following the fire at the 27-storey Grenfell Tower in north Kensington.

More than 200 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze which was reported just after 1.15am on Wednesday.

Pictures from the scene showed flames engulfing the block and the plume of smoke visible across the capital, while others showed residents looking out of windows in the block.

The leader of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Nick Paget-Brown said “several hundred” people would have been in the block when the fire broke out.

Just seen this awful tower block fire near my home in W London. My prayers with those affected & heroes tackling it pic.twitter.com/MFi1DAnCSK

— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) June 14, 2017

Actor and writer Tim Downie, who lives around 600 metres from the scene in Latimer Road, told the Press Association he feared the block could collapse.

He said: “It’s horrendous. The whole building is engulfed in flames. It’s gone. It’s just a matter of time before this building collapses.

“It’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I just hope they have got everyone out.”

40 fire engines & 200 firefighters have been called to the Lancaster West Estate tower block fire #NorthKensington https://t.co/SmtWbgGpSg pic.twitter.com/H4qgGmh52Y

— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) June 14, 2017

Jody Martin said he got to the scene just as the first fire engine was arriving at Grenfell Tower, in Latimer Road.

He told the BBC: “I grabbed an axe from the fire truck, it looked like there was a bit of confusion about what to do.

“I ran around the building looking for a fire escape and couldn’t see any noticeable fire escapes around the building. A lot of debris falling down.

“I eventually gained entry on to the second floor, and once I got to the corridor I realised there was so much smoke there.”

He added that given the thickness of the smoke, he would be surprised if anyone could have left the building without assistance.

“I watched one person falling out, I watched another woman holding her baby out the window… hearing screams, I was yelling everyone to get down and they were saying ‘We can’t leave our apartments, the smoke is too bad on the corridors’,” he said.

Nick Paget-Brown described the blaze as a “very, very severe fire”.

Our latest statement on the #NorthKensington tower block fire. We have sent over 20 ambulance crews to the scene. More to follow. pic.twitter.com/j9JD8t6I3t

— London Ambulance Service (@Ldn_Ambulance) June 14, 2017

The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, London Fire Brigade said.

He told Sky News: “Clearly it’s an absolutely devastating fire.

“Several hundred would have been in there. It’s a question of establishing how many people were in there at the time of the fire. I’m really not in any position to answer any questions about the structure.

“Clearly there’s a lot more work to do to evacuate the building and to establish how safe it is.”

Major incident declared at Grenfell Tower in Kensington. 40 fire engines & 200 firefighters at the scene – follow @LondonFire for updates.

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 14, 2017

George Clarke, who presents the Channel 4 TV show Amazing Spaces, told Radio 5 Live: “I was in bed and heard ‘beep, beep, beep’ and thought, ‘I’ll get up and run downstairs as quickly as I could’.

“I’m getting covered in ash, that’s how bad it is. I’m 100 metres away and I’m absolutely covered in ash.”

London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Dan Daly said: “Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire.

“This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances.”

Transport for London said there was no service between Hammersmith and Edgware Road on the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines, while the police said the A40 was closed in both directions, owing to the fire.

London Fire Brigade said around 30 flats near the scene had been evacuated and a cordon was in place.