Coroner highlights problems in Lakanal tragedy
The coroner at the inquest into the deaths of six people during the Lakanal House fire has highlighted firefighters’ lack of knowledge of the block and the rapid spread of the blaze.
Judge Frances Kirkham this morning spoke about the actions of the firefighters and residents’ frantic calls from the burning 14-storey block of 98 maisonettes in Camberwell, south London.
She pointed out: ‘None of the incident commanders had knowledge about the layout of the building and apart from crew manager Barry Willett [one incident commander] did not know they were dealing with mainsonettes and didn’t know about escape balconies.’
They did not know about flat numbers and where flats were, and that the numbers could be confusing, Judge Kirkham added.
There were six changes of incident commander during the fire on 3 July 2009 - one firefighter was in charge for just three minutes.
She also talked about the rapid spread of the fire through the block and how it went from flat 65 where it started to the flat above, 79, where Catherine Hickman, 31, died. She focused on fire expert David Crowder’s evidence which showed that the fire intensified when the door of flat 79 collapsed into the corridor.
The fire then escaped from the flat and spread to flat 81 next door, where Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her two children, three-year-old Felipe and six-year-old Thais, and Helen Udoaka, 34, and her 20-day-old baby Michelle Udoaka died.
Judge Kirkham said: ‘When the front door collapsed this would have made conditions in flat 81 much worse. It would have caused a flow of smoke from the corridor to the bathroom.’
She explained Mr Crowder said that there was nothing unusual about the fire in flat 65 and flat 79, but it intensified in flat 81 after materials in the flat went up in flames – including a sofa – and boxing in under the stairs failed within minutes.
When the boxing in failed under the stairs in 81 it would have let smoke into the bathroom where the two women and three children were, Judge Kirkham said. Smoke would have also entered through pipes above a suspended ceiling and a grill in the bathroom.
Ms Hickman died after inhaling fire fumes and burns. The other five died from inhaling fire fumes.
Summing up continued this afternoon. The jury will return a narrative verdict which is expected next week.
See our Safe as houses page for full coverage of the inquest
