About the Recipe
In July 2009, a fire tore through Lakanal House, a tower block in Camberwell, killing six people — three women and three young children — and injuring at least 20 others. The blaze exposed serious failings in fire safety, with a coroner’s inquest later highlighting the lack of proper risk assessments and dangerous refurbishments, lessons that tragically echoed in the Grenfell Tower fire years later.
Victims: Six killed, including three children —
Catherine Hickman, 31.
Helen Udoaka, 34, and her three-week-old daughter Michelle
Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her children, Thais, 6, and Felipe, 3.
Incident:
3 July 2009: Fire started in a ninth-floor flat at Lakanal House, Camberwell.
Spread rapidly due to unsafe refurbishments and lack of fire breaks.
20+ others injured, many trapped and rescued by firefighters.
Outcome:
Coroner’s inquest in 2013 criticised Southwark Council and the London Fire Brigade.
No individuals criminally convicted, but case foreshadowed Grenfell Tower disaster.
Location/Date: Camberwell, South London – 3 July 2009.