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- Fire Evacuation for The Shard - What a Shambles
15 July 2014 | Updated 01 January 1970
900 have been evacuated from The Shard on Tuesday (15 July) in what our eye witness reporter described as 'a shambles' - it took him fifteen minutes to vacate the building; no fire engines had arrived by the time he hit the ground floor; and as people spilled out on to the streets - others were seen going in via a separate entrance to the Shangri La hotel that sits at the very top of the largest skyscraper in Europe.
In an opposing view, Sam Bradley, who works for the Foresight Group on the 17th floor told Sky News reporters that fire marshals had made sure everyone was calmly removed from the building and that he and his colleagues had been trained in procedures.
A spokesperson for The Shard claimed there had been no fire despite something smoke-like being seen coming from the basement area. Fire alarms were sounded and evacuation procedures announced over Tanoy. Firefighters will investigate further but the fact that 50 of them turned up in seven fire engines suggests there were real fears of a blaze developing. The LFB has now confirmed there was no fire in the building itself. One theory is that the 'smoke' was the result of an exploding manhole in the vicinity which happens once a week in the capital as reported in ThisWeekinFm on 3 July.
All UK firefighters are in a week long strike at certain hours in dispute over pensions.
Article written by Roy Winters & Brian Shillibeer | Published 15 July 2014
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