Residents Evacuated From Fire At 'Del Boy' Tower Block

Harlech Tower was made famous as Nelson Mandela House

Harlech Tower fire Picture: London Fire Brigade

Chiswick Fire Brigade was amongst several units called to fight a fire at the Acton tower block used as the home of Derek and Rodney Trotter in 'Only Fools and Horses'.

Thirty residents were evacuated when fire broke out on the seventh floor last Thursday, (18 April). The block is facing demolition after Ealing Council gave the go ahead for a huge redevelopment of the site.

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were deployed, with crews from Acton, Chiswick, Ealing, Hammersmith and the surrounding area all rushing to the scene.

“When firefighters arrived on scene the fire was very visible with flames coming from the balcony of the flat. The Brigade’s 999 Control centre received 15 calls alerting them to the blaze,” said London Fire Brigade

Nelson Mandela House, the Peckham home of the characters from 'Only Fools and Horses', was actually Harlech Tower on the South Acton Estate.

A new block is to be built on the site as part of the Acton Gardens development after outline planning permission was given for the next phase of the scheme.

The application was submitted by planning consultancy Barton Willmore on behalf of Acton Gardens LLP. It includes as many social housing units as the existing development as well as shared ownership schemes. Ealing Council was recently given a grant of over £100 million to help it meet its target for genuinely affordable housing which is the largest in London.

The former council estate - which comprised of 50 tower blocks - was built between the fifties and seventies and is undergoing a huge transformation with the old housing stock including Harlech Tower all due to be demolished by 2024.

The area has been used as a backdrop for a variety of films and television programmes including war-torn Bosnia in Welcome to Sarajevo and the 2010 version of Brighton Rock.

How the site will look after redevelopment. Picture: Barton Willmore

April 20, 2019