'Recipe for disaster' Horrifying video shows plastic-backed fridge freezer burn in SECONDS
THE London Fire Brigade released alarming footage showing just how quickly plastic-backed fridge freezers can catch fire, years before the Grenfell Tower block became engulfed by flames.
SHOCKING video shows how quickly a fridge can catch fire
The clip captures a fire swiftly ripping across a household fridge freezer within one minute and 30 seconds.
The video was published by the London Fire Brigade in 2015 as a warning about flammable fridge freezers.
London Fire Brigade released footage of a fridge catching fire, years before Grenfell Tower ignited
Rita Dexter, who was the Deputy Commissioner of London Fire Brigade at the time the video was launched , said: "Every home has a fridge or freezer and the chances are it will be plugged in and working safely for years but it is no exaggeration to say that they are potentially the most dangerous household appliances if they are involved in a fire.
"They contain large amounts of highly flammable foam insulation, often only protected by a thin plastic covering.
“This can be a recipe for disaster if a fault occurs or if a fire spreads from somewhere else to the fridge or freezer.
"They are also one of the few electrical items in your home to be always left on and these fires pose an even greater risk if they start when people are sleeping."
Ms Dexter had also urged “manufacturers to act now to make their products safer”.
She said: “Putting a simple non-combustible or fire retardant covering at the back of appliances is a relatively simple change that manufacturers can make and one that we believe would reduce the number of injuries, and potentially deaths, caused by fires involving fridges and freezers."
Police have now confirmed a Hotpoint fridge sparked the Grenfell Tower fire which left up to 79 people dead or presumed dead according to police.
Grenfell tower fire was still going hours the incident began
A plastic-backed fridge freezer was engulfed in huge flames within 50 seconds
A metal-backed fridge self-extinguished after 20 minutes
They contain large amounts of highly flammable foam insulation, often only protected by a thin plastic covering
Detective Superintendant Fiona McCormack, who is overseeing the investigation, said: “Preliminary tests show the insulation samples collected from Grenfell Tower combusted soon after the tests started. The initial test on the cladding tiles also failed the safety tests.”
She added that the insulation proved “more flammable than the cladding”.
Ms McCormack said police would be investigating how the tiles were installed.
The Government have said technical experts are undertaking urgent tests of the Hotpoint FF175BP fridge-freezer named by police as the cause of the fire and a decision on whether to order a recall would be taken shortly.
The manufacturer of the insulation used in the £8.6m refurbishment of Grenfell Tower has announced the material will no longer be supplied for use in cladding on high-rise buildings, according to reports.