Published: Friday 1 March 2024
A fire broke out in terraced houses in Emperor’s Gate in the early hours of Friday 1 March.
Council staff were deployed to the site of the fire, and then established a temporary shelter for evacuated residents in the Double Tree Hotel nearby. A support team was then established at the Millennium Hotel, where a large number of rooms were booked to provide temporary accommodation to people who had nowhere else to go.
Alongside staff, deputy leader Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith and local ward Cllr Sam Mackover worked to support around 150 people. Most of those residents had been evacuated as a safety measure from surrounding properties and were able to return to their homes later the same day.
Residents of around 25 properties directly affected by the fire were accommodated at the Millennium Hotel until midday on Tuesday 5 March. At that point, residents whose flats were habitable returned home.
Residents who could not go home moved to other temporary accommodation provided by themselves, their landlords or, for those who were eligible, by the Council.
Latest updates
- Residents who need help or support due to the incident should in the first instance refer to their landlords or insurance companies. For support needs that cannot be met in that way, the Council has established a dedicated phone line on 020 7361 3868. The line is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Any additional updates for affected residents will be provided on this page.
- Mental health support
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It is natural and quite common to have some physical or emotional responses for several weeks after this sort of event, such as:
- feeling upset, shocked and numb, shaky, anxious
- thinking a lot about what happened
- having sleep difficulties, such as not being able to get to sleep, waking in the night, or having nightmares
Things that might help:
- Try to keep to your usual routine
- Make time for rest and sleep and gentle exercise, and time in nature if possible
- Eat regularly and healthily
- Talk about how you are feeling with people you feel comfortable with
- You don’t need to go into all the details of the event or talk about it to anyone you don’t wish to
- If you don’t know anyone that you feel you could talk to, you can talk by phone or email with The Samaritans (call 116123, email [email protected]) or by text with SHOUT (Text the word 'SHOUT' to 85258) They are happy to listen to anyone who is having a difficult time, not only people who are feeling suicidal
- Try to avoid alcohol, non-prescribed drugs, and smoking as they can exacerbate difficulties and prevent natural recovery
If difficulties are severe, or are causing unhealthy or risky behaviours, or last longer than a few weeks, do seek help, for example:
- Your GP
- Community Living Well
- For immediate 24/7 help or advice if you are worried about yourself or someone else use the CNWL Single Point of Access on 0800 0234 650 or NHS 111
- If you were affected by the Grenfell fire and the recent fire has triggered or exacerbated this, contact the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service, call 020 8637 6279 or email [email protected]
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