Parents fled burning Sydenham tower block carrying children

Families living in the Lewisham Council building in Sydenham said they were alerted to the fire by the smell of smoke and police and firefighters banging on their doors last Tuesday afternoon (August 20). 

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said crews rescued one man from a flat on the tenth floor in a fire escape hood after being called to the block on Dacres Road at around 3.40pm. He was treated at the scene by paramedics. 

Sandra, 58, who declined to give her surname, said her disabled daughter had to be carried down multiple flights of stairs by police who knocked on her door, telling her to evacuate.

Speaking on Thursday (August 22), two days after the fire, she said: “When we first heard the sounds, we thought it was somebody breaking glass. We didn’t realise that a window had blown out in the tenth floor flat. I was saying that I could smell smoke. Then they were banging on the doors. 

“My daughter is in a wheelchair and she can’t walk down the stairs. The police had to carry her down and they had to bring her back up.  If we were any higher, it would be hard getting her out.”

The boarded up flat damaged in the fire (Image: Robert Firth)

Mum Destiny Ifechukwu Mark said she was getting ready to set off for work when she realised the tower block was ablaze.

Speaking on Thursday, she said: “We were scared. We were running down the stairs. Nobody could use the lift. I ran down with my son. People were carrying their babies. It was an ugly experience.”

Several residents the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) spoke to said firefighters on the scene had told them that an unattended candle caused the blaze. The LFB said investigations to identify the cause of the fire were still ongoing.

Lewisham Council said it had been informed that there would be no enforcement action against the local authority and that an LFB audit conducted following the fire found the building to be ‘broadly compliant’, which is the highest rating.

(Image: Robert Firth)

A number of residents’ cold water stopped working after the fire, but the supply was reconnected by the end of last week. 

Flats on higher floors directly below the apartment where the blaze occurred were flooded by water pumped into the building to extinguish the blaze, according to residents. Occupants of these water damaged flats are currently staying in alternative accommodation arranged by the council. 

Resident Worawa Lun Osysko, 42, said she had chosen to stay. She told the LDRS last Thursday: “The carpet by the window is water damaged. The water is still leaking from the ceiling. But it’s just parts of the flat by the window that are affected.” 

The fire destroyed a flat on the tenth floor, as well as part of the tower block’s roof. As of Thursday last week, a locked wood door had been fitted across the entrance of the flat. A note lodged in a crack between the door and wall from ‘Lewisham Council’ ordered the occupant of the flat not to enter their property and instead call a number scrawled on the piece of paper. 

A note left to the occupant of the flat destroyed in the fire (Image: Robert Firth)

LFB said around 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines attended the scene of the fire on Tuesday (August 20). The blaze was brought under control by 5:16pm the same day. According to one resident, the fire brigade sent a drone up to the tenth floor to check that the flames had gone out.

A Lewisham Council spoeksperson said: “Some flats in the upper floors of the building were affected by water damage and those households were immediately placed in alternative accommodation. We are in regular contact with them as our contractors assess the damage so we can get a better understanding of what works are necessary before our residents can move back in.”

Additional reporting by Jamal Sesay.