[nomadking]

The idea with large scale residential accommodation is to contain any outbreak of fire long enough for the fire brigade to get there. If a centralised fire alarm system was there then hundreds of people would have tried to leave the building at the same time, each time somebody burnt the toast. Usually there would be no need to evacuate the whole building.

The boundary walls, ceiling and floors of each flat should be fire resistant. Is it possible that the common walls, ceilings, and floors between flats were not fire resistant? That would have helped the fire spread more easily. If the exterior cladding was flammable, that would have helped the fire bypass any fire resistant walls etc.