The government spent two years urging Ballymore to tackle ACM cladding in a building that caught fire today, it has appeared. The 19-storey building in New Providence Wharf in Poplar caught fire at around 9 AM this morning (Friday May 7), and residents were evacuated. The fire was extinguished by lunchtime and two people were taken to hospital. “The fact that four years after the Grenville disaster there are still flammable cladding in many high-rise buildings is flagrant,” said John Biggs, mayor of the Tower Hamlets where the building is located. “The government has not moved fast enough to force developers and building owners to take action,” he added. In response, a MHCLG spokesperson said the government spent two years dealing with developer Ballymore regarding cladding and recently awarded millions to help cover the cost of the repair. “ The building received £ 8m in government funding to remove the ACM’s unsafe cladding – this work was due to take place on Monday (May 10) and we have been in regular contact with Ballymore over the past two years to make progress, including naming the Landor publicly, Affiliate, as one of the companies that consistently failed to take action. ” “Ministers have met with the Lemur repeatedly to urge them to take action.” A Palimour spokesman said the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but added that “the ACM cladding of the building did not ignite and did not play any role in causing or facilitating the fire.” They added that work on repairing the cladding would continue as soon as possible. A fire broke out on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the New Providence Wharf building at around 9 a.m. on Friday morning. 25 fire engines and 125 firefighters were dispatched to fight the blaze, which was put out around midday. Building News understands that the cladding, which also covered the Grenfell Tower when it caught fire in 2017, covers about 22 percent of the building. Two men were taken to hospital later in the day with smoke inhalation, while 38 adults and four children at the scene were treated for shock and smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. Ballymore developed a number of buildings on site in Poplar, East London. A company spokesperson said Friday morning that it has sent its support team to the site to support residents. The cladding has been treated across the UK since the tragic Greenville Tower fire, which killed 72 people. But experts warned last month that a shortage of materials and equipment could hinder the nationwide reform project. Last week, cladding expert Jonathan Sakula told Grenfell Inquiry that the dangers of cladding ACM were “known” prior to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Ballymore was contacted regarding MHCLG’s comment.
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