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Up to 60 residents are facing a second night away from their homes after a fire swept through a block of flats.

About 75 firefighters tackled the blaze in Bennett Close, Hounslow, West London, on Tuesday for almost 12 hours.

The roof of the four-storey building collapsed and the first, second and third floors have been damaged.

Ten firefighters remain at the scene damping down and cooling the charred remains. They are likely to stay for another two days dealing with unexpected bursts of fire and recovering valuables for flats that are considered unsafe for residents to enter.

The Stawskas

Julita Stawska, her husband and her two young children are now desperately looking for a new home after her flat was damaged. She says:

"I thought nothing had happened at first.... but then my roof collapsed... now I have no home, everything [is gone] all my stuff all my children's stuff. We have nothing now we're homeless."

The council provided temporary accommodation for 10 families last night. One resident who didn't want to give his name, says he is disappointed with the council's efforts. He says:

"Last night we were given very shabby accommodation from the council, which was not up to standards really, I'll have to be put up by friends now.. I spent a lot of money buying and decorating this flat ...it's not a good feeling."

Too slow

Some residents have been criticising the Fire Brigade for taking so long to control the fire. Some suggesting water shortages as a cause for the delay. Mazin Daoud, from the London Fire Brigade says:

"We are surprised by how quickly the fire spread, it may have something to do with the it being a timber frame building....we got water on quite quickly but we are limited to a four inch main which it is around here, we got our hose layer down which were connected us to the hydrants on the main road, a 1/4 mile away."

Ten firefighters remain at the scene damping down and cooling the charred remains. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

email: ramaa.sharma@bbc.co.uk

Your thoughts

As an owner of one of the properties affected by the fire on Tuesday this week I feel the need to contact you.

Whilst some residents may have criticised the fire service, they do so purely because there was initially a refusal by the officers to re-enter the building and rescue personal belongings. The fire service and police acted swiftly, professionally and safely during and after the fire. Yesterday, as parts of the roof fell in some fire officers managed to gain access and help people with their property...but this is clearly not the primary role of the fire service! They are in place to protect lives which they did, we should not forget that everyone was removed safely from the buildings and the fire was contained.

As for criticising the council for their accommodation I'm sure there are many homeless people across London who would be grateful for 篓麓shabby麓麓 accommodation! Do you expect the council and ultimately the taxpayer to have grand hotels available for such emergencies?

It is easy to criticise and also easy to forget that the police and fire services work under extremely difficult and often unsafe conditions - we should support them and appreciate them!

Martyn Mclachlan