![\"Grenfell](\"https:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/9932\/production\/_96481293_040046931-1.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\nLondon Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Dan Daly said firefighters were “working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire”.<\/p>\n
“This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances.”<\/p>\n
London Ambulance Service medics specially trained in life-saving medical care in hazardous environments have also been sent to the fire.<\/p>\n
The first reports of fire in the tower, in Latimer Road, on the Lancaster West Estate, came in at 00:54 BST.<\/p>\n
The A40 Westway was closed in both directions. London Underground said the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines have been closed between Edgware Road and Hammersmith.<\/p>\n Safety concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Kensington and Chelsea Council, the tower block contains 120 flats and is 24 storeys high.<\/p>\n It is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) on behalf of the council and had undergone a two-year, \u00a310m refurbishment that was completed last year.<\/p>\n The work included new exterior cladding and a communal heating system.<\/p>\n The local Grenfell Action Group had claimed, before and during the refurbishment, the block constituted a fire risk and residents had warned that access to the site for emergency vehicles was “severely restricted”.<\/p>\n The BBC has been unable to contact the property’s management company in the hours since the fire.<\/p>\n One eyewitness, George Clarke, the presenter of Channel 4 TV programme Amazing Spaces, told Radio 5 Live: “I’m getting covered in ash, that’s how bad it is.<\/p>\n “I’m 100 metres away and I’m absolutely covered in ash.<\/p>\n “It’s so heartbreaking, I’ve seen someone flashing their torches at the top level and they obviously can’t get out.”<\/p>\n Jody Martin said he ran towards the building to try and help when he saw the fire.<\/p>\n He said he was shouting at people to “get out, get out” but that residents were shouting back that they were stuck as corridors inside the building were filled with smoke.<\/p>\n ‘Building crumbling’<\/strong><\/p>\n Tim Downie, another eyewitness, told the BBC part of the building was “completely burned away”.<\/p>\n “It has burned through to its very core,” he said.<\/p>\n “It looks very bad, very very bad. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s just such a big fire.<\/p>\n “The whole building is just crumbling. It’s just billowing black smoke.”<\/p>\n Safiyah, who is about 500m away from the building, said: “There are lots of people gathered in the street. I just see more and more flames burning and tragically I hear people crying for help.<\/p>\n “The entire building is burning through.”<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A huge fire has raged through the night at a west London tower block, with eyewitnesses claiming people were trapped inside. More than 200 firefighters are still tackling the blaze at Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, where hundreds of people are thought to live. London Ambulance said 30 people are receiving hospital treatment. The BBC’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[8172,3],"yoast_head":"\n