Westwood Hill Fire: can you help?

[admin]

A Message from the Met:
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Shortly before 03:00hrs on Wednesday, 20 April police were called by LFB to reports of a fire in Westwood Hill, SE26.

Officers attended alongside LFB and the venue of the fire was found to house gas cylinders.
Nearby properties were evacuated as a safety precaution and displaced residents were taken to a local community centre.

There were no reports of any injuries.

The fire is being treated as suspicious and is being investigated by the CID on Lewisham borough.
Anyone with any information can call police in 0300 123 1212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

[bensonby]

I was surprised the road closure of Westwood Hill didn't stay in place longer. I believe it was all finished by about 0530. Which was lucky I suppose as it would have caused havoc in the rush hour!

[biffa]

things should get better with cylinder fires( ie quicker) our procedures have been adapted to take into account the cost to business and rail operators

[bensonby]

surely the paramount concern should be public safety?


I believe at this fire the type of cylinders were not ones that need to have an extensive cooling period: I believe it may have been bhutane(?) which due to the metal that holds it cools down a lot quicket. Something like oxyacetylene needs much thicker metal and, as a result, needs far longer to cool down. I'm no expert though.

[Tim Lund]

Butane, Bensonby, C4H10.

Not to be confused with a small Himalayan kingdom which David Cameron in targeting National Happiness may want us to emulate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJwNSkd ... detailpage

[biffa]

yes public and firefighter safety is paramount- acetylene was the problem due to a number of factors inlcuding its vast explosive / flammable range ..other gases are easier to deal with... while we are on this subject i would suggest anyone storing cylinders in sheds or garages ( including camping gas ) places some kind of warning so firefighters have an idea what they may be dealing with - kind regards