'I've seen solar panels go up in flames before'

The roof has been badly damaged

A fire risk assessment (FRA) of a block of flats in east London whose roof was gutted after a blaze, damaging 36 homes, failed to declare solar panels had been installed at least eight years before.

About 50 people were evacuated from the Pembury Estate in Dalston Lane, Hackney, on 5 June but none of the residents have moved back home, a month after the roof sustained significant damage.

A 2019 FRA by Peabody, the housing association responsible for the building, stated there were no solar panels on top of the flats, something an independent fire safety expert said made the report "defective and dangerous".

The Metropolitan Police said inquiries were ongoing to establish the cause of the fire, which took two hours and 100 firefighters to bring under control.

"The chance of a roof catching fire without them [the solar panels] would have been nil," fire safety expert Arnold Tarling said, adding the panels were visible on satellite imagery from 2011.

He said: “Solar panels change the whole fire dynamics of the roof; if the wrong information is in the fire box it puts firefighters arriving at the scene at risk."

A spokesperson for Peabody said: "We don’t know what caused the fire and are still awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

"However, this is an incident we are taking very seriously."

The 2019 FRA carried out by Peabody said the roof presented a major fire risk, as it could not be determined whether it was of a reasonable standard to slow the spread of the blaze.

It also warned of inadequate fire doors, the use of combustible polyurethane foams that needed to be replaced, and gaps in the building not filled in with fire-resistant materials.

Residents suspect solar panels were to blame for the blaze

Peabody said an "in-date and valid" FRA was carried out last July but did not confirm whether it listed the roof as having solar panels.

It added: "Following the 2019 FRA, we carried out a programme of fire safety works at the building."

Mr Tarling said it did not look as though the roof had been appropriately compartmentalised for solar panels.

He said: “When you install solar you need to break the loft up into sections. The photographs after the fire did not appear to reflect this.

"We’ve got a 2019 report saying there are no solar panels. We need to know that the updated 2023 report has them on there, and that the correct information was given to the firefighters in the directions box at the scene."

Neil believes solar panels are to blame for the fire

London Fire Brigade says there have been 31 fires across the capital involving solar panels since the beginning of 2018.

Many residents are unsatisfied with Peabody’s claim that adequate remedial works were carried out after the 2019 report because, as one resident put it, “the whole roof burnt down in two hours”.

Neil, a disabled veteran who lives in the flat block, said the 2019 FRA report's findings "don't surprise me".

He said: "I do believe it was the solar panels. I've seen solar panels go up [in flames] before and the sparks that were coming up from the flames were exactly the same.

"I can't confirm it, but I'd like to see the fire report."

The damage can be seen in photos captured by firefighters

He returned to his flat for the first time since the fire to collect some belongings at the end of June.

His £8,500 specially adapted mattress now has mould growing on it and the stench of rotting food was impossible to ignore.

He said: "It's weird, it's strange. It's just unreal. I can't get over it. I haven't got any feeling at the moment.

"I'm still numb and I think a lot of people are. We're disjointed, we're displaced."

A Peabody spokesperson said: "Thankfully everyone was evacuated safely, and no-one was seriously hurt.

"We continue to support residents affected by the fire and are helping the fire brigade and the police with their inquiries.

"As part of this, we have provided the documentation requested, including the FRAs.

"The building has an in-date and valid FRA, which was conducted in July 2023. This supersedes the 2019 assessment."