Residents claim no fire alarms went off during blaze in Wembley block

Residents alleged that police had incorrectly advised residents to ‘stay put’ in their flats, while Octavia had failed to repair gas boilers and appliances for more than six months. But the police told Inside Housing that they supported the firefighters during the fire with cordons and road closures.

A spokesperson for the LFB said that firefighters had told the residents to evacuate and assisted them to do so.

Mr Gardiner has stated his belief that Octavia had “chosen to engage in a protracted dispute” with Vistry, the developer of the block, rather than remove the cladding itself, despite being aware for years that “Grenfell-style” combustible cladding was on the building.

The Labour MP also accused the London landlord of “sitting on their hands” after he repeatedly raised concerns about the building’s safety defects months before a fire engulfed the block in flames.

Speaking to Inside Housing on Tuesday, Mr Talbot said: “I’ve been speaking to residents in the block where it happened. No alarms went off in their block. No smoke alarms went off in my block. I didn’t hear any go off anywhere, not even outside. Their alarms were non-existent.”

He said that the fire began at around 4.30pm, but firefighters only got it under control at 11pm and put it out completely by 6am the following day.

Mr and Ms Talbot were babysitting their granddaughter on the night of the fire. “She kept going to the back window,” he said. “Then I saw some fire engines out the back.”

He initially thought a nearby McDonald’s was on fire until he looked to his right and saw the adjacent block in flames.

He explained: “I saw one of the lower balconies just fall to the floor, so I said ‘grab the baby, let’s go, because we’re not staying in here’.”

The couple took the stairs down. Mr Talbot, who is disabled, left his crutches behind, while Ms Talbot carried the baby in her pushchair. Residents then gathered in a pub across the road along with representatives from Octavia Housing.

The landlord was putting the decanted residents in nearby hotels, but the couple chose to stay at their daughter’s house instead.

Mr Talbot was later allowed to return to his flat to pick up some clothes. “The smell of smoke is disgusting,” he said. “I had to kick my door in to make sure nobody was inside.”

He also examined the remains of the block that caught fire. “I’ve looked at the damage, and behind the [cladding] looks like fibreglass and a plasterboard wall,” he said. “It looks like a matchbox, waiting to go up.”

He said that Octavia had changed the evacuation policy from ‘stay put’ after the 2017 Grenfell fire, and that police had moved them on once they had left the building. He did not recall the police telling people to stay put.

“No quibbles with the police or fire brigade,” he said. “My only quibbles are with Octavia, really. It took something like this for them to wake up.”

He said the housing association was engaged in “damage limitation” and was trying to “pass the buck” onto the contractors that built the block.

One resident with a disabled child had a new boiler put in by Octavia and had no hot water “all through Christmas”, he said. He has had the same boiler since 2008, when he moved into the flat.

The housing association has told the couple that it will provide more details on their living arrangements in March, but they refuse to go back to the block. “The thought of going back in there and it happening at nighttime, or if we’re asleep, or if we’re not taking any notice terrifies me,” said Ms Talbot.

Mr Gardiner has been working with residents since June 2022 to have the cladding removed and has had multiple correspondences with Octavia on the issue. In November 2023, the MP demanded a meeting with chief executive Sandra Skeete, but she subsequently resigned.

In response to the latest claims, a spokesperson for Octavia Housing said: “We fully understand that the fire at Elm Road was an extremely distressing experience for our residents. Their safety and well-being remain our number-one priority and we are in contact with them every day to ensure we continue to offer every possible assistance to them.

“While we await the results of the London Fire Brigade’s fire investigation, we understand that fire detection alarms were activated in Petworth Court and monitored by the on-site fire marshal who alerted the fire brigade and assisted residents to evacuate the building safely. Alarms would not have been activated in adjoining blocks which were not subject to a fire.

“All Octavia boiler contractors are Gas Safe registered, which means they are duty-bound to cap the gas supply if they consider any appliance is unsafe.

“Petworth Court has a fire risk assessment which has been shared with the London Fire Brigade, who we have been working with since last August to manage the building.

“The building has some external cladding in its construction, and we are working with the developer and our insurer to get this removed. Ensuring residents are safe in our homes is our primary concern and therefore completing these works is a priority.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that advising residents was not something police would have been doing and that call centres would have been dealt with by the LFB rather than police.