A video showing how British style fridge freezers can go up in flames in less than a minute has been released following the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The shocking video, which was released by the London Fire Brigade, shows how the traditional British-style, plastic-backed appliances, burn far easier compared to the the U.S. metal backed models.
In the clip, you can clearly see how the flames do not spread in the American models, with the fire being far more contained – yet it takes just 55 seconds for the British one to become engulfed in flames.
Here is the disturbing footage:
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The London Fire Brigade released the video back in February – they were campaigning to get all new fridge’s and freezer’s to have a fully fire retardant backing as standard procedure.
The video has re-surfaced after it emerged that the Hotpoint FF175BP fridge-freezer sparked the Grenfell Tower disaster, which has killed at least 79 people.
Although the particular model in question has not been subject to a product re-call, it will be examined by safety experts as part of the governments-ordered review, reports the Mirror.
The Hotpoint model in question – the FF175BP – were manufactured by Indesit and sold for around £330 at the time.
Although the models were discontinued in 2009, thousands are still thought to be in use.
Hotpoint released a statement to say that they are working alongside authorities but were unable to ‘speculate on further details at this time’.
A Hotpoint spokesman said:
We are addressing this as a matter of utmost urgency and assisting the authorities in any way we can.
We will provide additional updates as our investigations progress.
The Hotpoint spokesman continued:
Words cannot express our sorrow at this terrible tragedy.
We offer our most profound condolences to the victims, those who have lost loved-ones, homes, and possessions, and their friends and families.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved, including the emergency services who risked their lives to extinguish the blaze and rescue those in the building.
The London Fire Brigade have said that nearly one fire a day is caused in the capital due to white goods.
Their campaign ‘Total Recalls’ was set up to try to get the Government, manufacturers and retailers to make changes to improve safety.
One proposed measure calls for manufacturers to use metal rather than plastic to make the backs of fridges, similar to those used with most American-style fridges.
Andy Vaughan-Davies, the watch manager for the London Fire Brigade said:
Once a spark ignites in the compressor which powers the freezer, it can be as little as 90 second before the whole kitchen is engulfed in flames.
The foam used to insulate them is highly flammable and is the equivalent to having four gallons of petrol around your freezer.
Once ignited it produces an intense heat three times that of a large bonfire – this is the cause of some of the worst home fires we have had.
Andy continued:
Once they catch fire, they burn extremely quickly producing thick smoke and intense heat.
This has been going on for several years, which is the frustrating part.
It is worth remembering the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower had roots beyond the fridge which ignited the blaze, but the footage of this fridge burning is concerning to say the least.
