WE WARNED IT WAS A DEATH TRAP
Locals had protested for YEARS about safety – but were ignored
RESIDENTS had warned for years that the tower block was a death trap and an ‘accident waiting to happen’, they said last night.
The Grenfell Action Group made a string of complaints about the ‘very poor safety standards’ at the block and how it was being managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO).
In November, the body wrote: ‘It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord.’
In the past, the group also said it had reached the conclusion that only an incident that results in ‘serious loss of life’ would expose the alleged mismanagement of the tower block. In a 2014 letter to London Fire Brigade, the group said it was ‘very concerned’
‘They have blood on their hands’
an £8.6million refurbishment that year had turned the tower block into a ‘fire trap’.
It also complained about the absence of sprinklers, fire alarms not working, restricted vehicle access routes for the emergency services, and ‘highly dangerous’ power surges.
Yesterday, as the tragedy unfolded, the group said: ‘All our warnings fell on deaf ears. This was inevitable.’
Labour councillor Judith Blakeman said residents were so concerned about fire safety that they had requested an independent expert inspect the building in March – but their pleas were rejected.
Building firm Rydon, which completed a ‘partial refurbishment’ of the tower block a year ago, said last night the project ‘met all required building regulations’. But a line stating that the project had met all ‘fire regulation and health and safety standards’ which had been included in an earlier statement disappeared in the latest one.
In 2013, the Grenfell Action Group published a damning fire risk assessment of the building which found that fire extinguishers were more than 12 months out of test date. Some even had ‘ condemned’ written on them and had not been tested since 2009.
The group also raised concerns about the single emergency exit to the building last year, warning that people could be trapped during a fire. The Daily Mail can reveal that in 2013, a senior solicitor representing Kensington and Chelsea Council tried to silence a key figure in the group who had raised concerns about safety in a blog.
Yesterday a member of the action group furiously turned on local councillor Catherine Faulks in a street just yards from the blaze.
Edward Daffarn yelled: ‘This is mass murder. There will be charges for corporate manslaughter. We have warned the council for more than two years about the problems with work being carried out on the block. People have blood on their hands and will go to prison for what has happened here – it is a disgrace. People in the community deserve better but they have been sold out and now they have died.’
Mr Daffarn, 55, told the Mail: ‘There was no fire alarm working in the building and people had to rely on their own smoke detectors in their flats to know that there was a fire. I only got out alive because a friend in a flat below rang me.
‘I was on the 16th floor. I have lived in the block for 20 years and now the whole community has been destroyed because of the incompetence of the council and the builders. Fire retardant materials have clearly not been used because the place went up like someone had thrown petrol on a barbecue.’
A former chairman of KCTMO piled further pressure on council chiefs when he described Grenfell’s recent refurbishment as a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.
Reg Kerr-Bell said that he stood down from the company several years ago over his fears about how it was being run.
He told the Mail he repeatedly voiced concerns about the safety of the borough’s tower blocks but was ignored. He added: ‘This is a scandal. This is one of the biggest scandals in the country – and it could have been avoided.’
Mr Kerr-Bell also criticised his successor as chairman, Fay Edwards, for walking her dog yesterday morning while families were searching for loved ones. He said: ‘She should have been there from 9am, not casually just walking her dog at lunchtime.’
Outside her Kensington home with her dog at her side, Mrs Edwards said she did not recall any safety concerns being voiced to her. She said: ‘We regularly have the fire department come in and make sure everything is in order.’