A resident of Burke Close in Roehampton has spoken out after a devastating series of explosions and fires ripped through terraced homes last week, raising serious questions about gas and electrical safety, years of ignored warnings, and a lack of response from Wandsworth Council.
Frances Bird, who has lived on Burke Close for more than 40 years, described the horror of that morning. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” she said. “There was one big massive bang, black smoke everywhere — and then fire tearing through the houses.”
Miraculously, there were no reported fatalities, but at least one firefighter was hit by a blast and was assessed on the scene. The damage to homes and the mental toll on residents has been severe with some too frightened to return home.
We visited one of the damaged homes where the blast appears to have caused structural damage and discovered windows smashed by the force of a blast, a kitchen devastated with cooking tools flung across the room, burn marks on the ceilings and walls, and in one case glass debris covering a train set where only minutes before the blast a young child has been playing.
We also spoke to several locals who had harrowing tales of the fires, seeing smoke coming up from under their floors, hearing screams as neighbours discovered fires inside their houses, and wondering whether their house would be the next to explode.
Ignored warnings and years of electrical issues
According to Mrs Bird, the incident wasn’t sudden — it was the catastrophic result of long-standing neglect. “We’ve had electrical problems here for years. The lights constantly trip, sometimes across whole rows of houses. And there’s been the smell of gas for months — neighbours have reported it several times,” she said.
She says those warnings were repeatedly dismissed. “The gas company just said it was ‘a work in progress.’ But we knew something was wrong. You could smell it.”
When we visited, the smell of gas was still distinctly noticeable at the front of the properties. Locals claim to have grown so used to the smell by now that they don’t notice it anymore.
Wandsworth Council under fire
Adding to residents’ frustration is the silence from local authorities. Neighbours that remain (many are currently in hotels across Wandsworth) say they have received no communication from the council. “No one came to check if we were okay. Not even a phone call,” said Mrs Bird. “The only one who reached out was Mark Hickey (Wandsworth Council’s Deputy Estate Services Manager) — and even he’s catching up on years of failure.”
This silence is especially troubling given recent revelations about systemic failings in Wandsworth Council’s housing safety programme.
Just weeks before the Roehampton explosion, Wandsworth Council was formally reprimanded by the Regulator of Social Housing for serious failings in electrical and fire safety. According to a report published on March 1, only a small percentage of council homes had up-to-date electrical safety checks — a violation of legal requirements. The regulator ordered the council to make urgent improvements.
Infrastructure failures and missed opportunities
Mrs Bird also raised concerns about the design and maintenance of the estate. She said the houses that burned weren’t adjacent, and the only connection between them was the gas and electricity grid — a worrying sign that infrastructure failure could be to blame.
Adding to electrical and gas issues, there was also a problem with water. “There are no proper fire hydrants down here anymore, either,” she added. “The fire brigade had to fight just to get access — cars were blocking the road, and seconds were lost. If this had happened at night, or in a tower block, we’d be talking about fatalities.”
Access is especially difficult because of narrow roads with cars parked on both sides due to a lack of available parking on the estate. Locals say larger vehicles such as lorries, buses and ambulances repeatedly get stuck trying to get around the estate.
Firefighters and scaffolders: the real heroes
Frances had nothing but praise for the firefighters and even the scaffolders working on the estate at the time of the explosions. “The scaffolders were incredible,” she said. “They were the first to help get people out before the fire brigade even arrived. And the firefighters — they were amazing. Brave, fast, and calm.”
She recalled how one firefighter listened to her describe the flickering, dancing flames and responded grimly: “I know what I’m dealing with. I’m dealing with gas.”
Calls for Answers and Accountability
Frances, who helped start the local Residents’ Association, is now pushing for a full investigation and public meeting. She’s particularly angry at the gas company, which she says sent only one worker to the scene initially, despite the scale of the incident. “The electrical crews were amazing. They stayed. They worked around the clock. But the gas response? One guy. That’s it.”
She’s also calling on the council to release any complaints and inspection records related to Burke Close and to acknowledge the long-standing safety issues. “They can’t keep pretending it’s just one person complaining. We’ve all raised this. We’ve done it the right way. Now people are too afraid to go home.”
In her words: “This didn’t need to happen. Someone needs to answer for why it did.”
Putney.news contacted Wandsworth Borough Council, Cadent Gas, UK Power Networks, and the London Fire Brigade with details of this story and asked for a response to the claims within it.
To date, only the London Fire Brigade has responded. To concerns about a firefighter who was caught up in the one of the blasts, the service responded: “The firefighter was assessed on scene by the London Ambulance Service and was able to remain on duty.”
To questions about whether the narrow streets and parked cars had hindered their ability to get to the scene, the Fire Brigade told us: “The first fire engine arrived within our target response time of six minutes. We remain committed to monitoring our performance and attendance times, and we will address any concerns that could impact our response with the local authority as needed.”
Council responds
On 2 April, the day after we published this article, Wandsworth Council responded to our queries. It wrote:
“The council were made aware of a fire on Thursday 27 March at Burke Close following the attendance of the London Fire Brigade. The Council took immediate action – a rest centre was quickly set up, housing advice provided to all those affected and temporary accommodation arranged for displaced council tenants.
“The London Fire Brigade confirmed that the fire affected three freehold properties on Burke Close. The exact cause of the fire is still to be determined, but London Fire Brigade have said that an electrical main was damaged and that there were gas leaks in the area. These issues were not related to council properties.
“The Council has been in contact with local residents where we have contact details. Since the incident, engineers from UKPN and Cadent have been on site to fix the issues and they are intending to finish work by Friday 4th April.
“Residents can get in touch with UK Power Networks team on 0800 316 3105.“
UK Power Networks responds
On 3 April, UK Power Networks responded to our queries. It wrote:
UK Power Networks engineers are working to restore power supplies to 12 properties in the Burke Close area of Roehampton.
Third party cable damage caused a fault on the network and engineers are carrying out checks before restoring electricity as quickly as is safely possible.
We understand how difficult it has been for our customers since they lost power, and customer service staff are on site visiting homes, providing updates and support.
