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Australians are encouraged not to buy into apartment buildings clad with ACM. It's the same stuff coolrooms are made from so has a great insulation qualities. The fire-rated product is quiet safe but I will bet my every dollar the panels used in London were manufactured in China with normal polyethylene.

I have worked with a similar product many times.

http://nu-core.com.a...ade-fire-rated/

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When I was a teen, I had an idea that polyethylene/polystyrenes would make good insulation in housing. I was told that no-one would ever countenance it's use as it's too flammable. 40 years later, as I pass construction sites, I see great blocks of the stuff, going into new buildings and houses.

 

​Presumably the nature or understanding, of the term flammable, has changed in 40 years

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It seems those panels go from 100% poly to 100% mineral depending on the price point you require. In the fine print it does say the poly will burn, but takes a hot fire to ignite. Think of poly as solid petrol. Hell, Al will burn in a hot fire. Al is used in solid rocket fuel!

 

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/london-fire-melbourne-skyscraper-fire-caused-by-shoddy-cladding-may-have-been-a-warning-for-london/news-story/6de8652286b765f369e779be3062a45f

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The panels they used in London are forbidden for use in the Netherlands because they are clad with plastics. In the US they cannot be used on buildings over 12 mtrs in height. According to a Dutch newspaper. In the UK they are free to use anywhere .......... probably in Thailand too I guess :(

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I heard on das radio here in NZ, that in their usual panic (how does NZ compare to whatever has happened overseas), the local guys have said that NZ won't let ya run gas pipes up the emergency exit stair wells.

 

That surprised me, that UK doe run gas pipes up the emergency exit stair wells....

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The gas lines ran down the corridors of every floor, as well as on the outside. In some pics you can see the blue gas flames.

 

A friend is retired LAPD. He says he'd seen a number of high rise fires in LA, but nothing to compare with this. Most fires were confined to just a few adjoining apartments. In this one, the fire spread to the top of the building in only about 15 minutes!

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The residents were all told to remain in their rooms until they were rescued - maybe because the single stairway would be too narrow to take everyone at once :dunno: No sprinklers or even a fire alarm :surprised:

 

It sound like a scene from a third world country

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