UK: All building cladding samples tested failed fire safety

June 25, 2017 at 6:32 a.m. | Updated June 25, 2017 at 6:45 a.m.

by Associated Press

A young person looks out from inside the Dorney block, part of the Chalcots Estate in the borough of Camden, north London, Saturday June 24, 2017, after the local council evacuated some 650 homes overnight. The apartments were evacuated overnight after fire inspectors concluded that the buildings, in north London's Camden area, were unsafe because of problematic fire doors, gas pipe insulation, and external cladding similar to that blamed for the rapid spread of a fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower on June 14. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A young person looks out from inside the Dorney block, part of the Chalcots Estate in the borough of Camden, north London, Saturday June 24, 2017, after the local council evacuated some 650 homes overnight. The apartments were evacuated overnight after fire inspectors concluded that the buildings, in north London's Camden area, were unsafe because of problematic fire doors, gas pipe insulation, and external cladding similar to that blamed for the rapid spread of a fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower on June 14. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) - Britain's government is urging local officials across the country to submit samples of tower block cladding "as a matter of urgency" after tests found that all cladding samples so far have failed fire safety tests.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said all 34 samples tested didn't meet fire safety standards. The national testing was ordered after a June 14 fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in London, killing at least 79 people.

A public inquiry has been ordered to determine how the unsafe cladding was allowed to be fitted in the first place.

Officials at Camden Council in north London have evacuated hundreds of apartments in four tower blocks as a precaution after fire inspectors concluded that they were unsafe. They say about a dozen families still remaining in their apartments must leave.

Upcoming Events