10:50am Tuesday 12th August 2008
By Alex Hayes
FIRE fighters have started to pack up their equipment at the scene of a huge fire which tore through flats in Greenford last night.
Residents living near Thurlestone Court in Howard Road, on the Golf Links Estate, have told how the fire tore along the plastic roof of the building and completely decimated a flat on the top floor of the four-storey building.
Steven Hunter, 26, who has lived in a flat on the ground floor of the building all his life said “I'm devastated something like this could happen.
“It's a total nightmare. We can't get in and they haven't told us how bad the damage is, but they say there could be water damage.
“My dad was in at the time and he was actually just leaving to go out when he saw a fire engine pull up and turned round and saw the whole roof was on fire.”
More than 70 residents were evacuated from the block, and spent the night with family or in emergency accommodation provided by Ealing Council.
Mr Hunter said: “The council have been really good. They put us up in Greenford Hall and provided food and drink there so at least we had somewhere to go.
“I spent last night at my ex-partner's house, but we do not know where we will be able to go yet.
“I'm not worried about things like TVs, it more the personal things like photographs which you can't replace.”
A meeting is taking place to establish the extent of the damage, and residents should learn today whether they will be able to return home.
Clean up crews are also poised to go into the grounds, although debris is still blowing off the roof and fire crews are still damping down hotspots.
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