Fire brigade slated over Grenfell fire
LONDON: The emergency response to a 2017 high-rise fire that killed 71 people in London had “serious shortcomings”, British media said on Tuesday, quoting an official report into the tragedy.
The long-awaited assessment into the Grenfell Tower fire was due to be published yesterday and indicated fewer people would have died had London Fire Brigade (LFB) been better prepared.
The June 14, 2017 inferno at the 24-storey residential block in west London was Britain’s deadliest domestic fire since World War II and prompted widespread outrage.
Several media organisations said the report says the fire service’s readiness for such a blaze was “gravely inadequate” and that its response suffered from “systemic” failures.
It also accused LFB commissioner Dany Cotton of “remarkable insensitivity” after she told the inquiry she would not have done anything differently on the night.
“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,” wrote inquiry head Martin Moore-Bick.
Findings from the first stage of the inquiry focused on assessing what happened on the night of the fire is summarised in the 1,000-page document, and includes a number of recommendations.
It reportedly confirms the blaze started through a faulty fridge in the kitchen of a fourth-floor flat and quickly engulfed the building due to flammable cladding installed on its facade as part of a refurbishment.
The report states the combustible aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding with polyethylene cores acted as a “source of fuel” and was the “principal reason” the flames spread at such speed.
Mr Moore-Bick ruled the LFB’s “stayput” strategy should have been lifted earlier, which would “likely to have
resulted in fewer fatalities”.
The fire service came under almost immediate scrutiny over its advice at the time for residents to remain in their flats, which was only lifted two hours after the blaze began.
“The best part of an hour was lost,” the retired judge concluded.
The LFB has defended its actions, saying there had been “no obvious and safe alternative strategy”.