Staying put deadly

‘Insensitive’ fire boss told strategy failed Grenfell victims

More residents could have been saved from the Grenfell Tower disaster had the London Fire Brigade not suffered from “serious shortcomings” and “systemic” failures, the first official report into the tragedy will say.

The report, due to be published today, also accuses the brigade’s commissioner Dany Cotton of “remarkable insensitivity” after she told the inquiry she would not change any of the decisions she made on the night.

It will mark the first release of findings from an ongoing inquiry into the fire, which killed 72 people when it engulfed a west London tower block (pictured) in the early hours of June 14, 2017.

The inquiry was announced the day after the fire by then prime minister Theresa May, and has heard evidence from fire brigade staff, witnesses and survivors.

After months of waiting, families have now been allowed to view the report from the first stage of the inquiry but have had to sign confidentiality agreements.

In the report, inquiry chairman Sir Martin n Moore-Bick said the e fire was started by an electrical fault in a fridge freezer. But he added the precise cause of the fire was “of less importance than establishing how the failure of a common domestic appliance could have such disastrous consequences”.

He identified combustible aluminium cladding used in a refurbishment as being the “principal reason” for the rapid spread of the fire.

And the building’s i crown, also added a in the refurb, helped the fire spread sideways.

Sir Martin also criticised c the London Fire Brigade’s “stay-put” strategy, under u which residents were told to remain inside flats for nearly two hours.

The fire began about 1am, and a decision to rescind the advice was taken at 2.47am.

“That decision could and should have been made between 1.30am and 1.50am and would be likely to have resulted in fewer fatalities,” Sir Martin said.

“The best part of an hour was lost before Assistant Commissioner Roe revoked the ‘stay put’ advice.”

Sir Martin’s report praised the heroics and bravery of individual firefighters but said: “I identify a number of serious shortcomings in the response of the LFB, both in the operation of the control room and on the incident ground. It is right to recognise that those shortcomings were for the most part systemic in nature.”