Firemen were about to leave when f lats ignited
They snuffed out fridge ... then cladding spread blaze
FIREFIGHTERS thought they had extinguished the Grenfell Tower blaze and were packing up to leave when it suddenly flared up, it was revealed last night.
They were astonished to spot flames shooting up the side of the building, adding weight to the theory that flammable cladding caused the disaster.
Crews responded quickly to the fire in a fridge in Flat 16, and within minutes were telling residents it was out, BBC Panorama reported. But soon after, the 24-storey block was consumed in the inferno that killed an estimated 79 people.
The revelation comes amid growing anger at the handling of the crisis, with claims some survivors are being ‘ignored’ and others rehoused far from London.
Some 250 investigators led by a murder detective is probing those responsible for the inferno, with prosecutors advising on possible manslaughter charges.
Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy pledged to ‘ensure those responsible are brought to justice’. He said yesterday: ‘On Saturday, I went to the top floor. I have seen some terrible things [in my service]. But I don’t think anything prepared me for what I was going to see in there.’
The police chief would not say if there will be raids to preserve evidence after MP David Lammy called for searches of offices and homes of the contractors involved in fitting flammable cladding on the tower.
But he said the investigation will be ‘farreaching’, including how the building was maintained, fire safety measures and an £8.6million refurbishment. The Mail found builders saved just £6,250 by fitting cladding with a plastic core that spreads fire.
Last night Mrs May led a crisis meeting of the Grenfell Tower Taskforce. She said she would urgently look into reports that survivors had been poorly treated, with some given as little as £20 to live on. Survivor Christabel Cas- tro, 26, who has been put in a local hotel, said some neighbours still had nowhere to stay including ‘an older lady who lives on her own’.
At least ten families have been placed 30 miles away in Ascot, Berkshire, and have to return by taxi to get donations. It was claimed some residents have been rehoused as far away as Birmingham, Manchester and Preston, which is 220 miles from London – but No 10 yesterday said these reports were ‘false’. Families also complained donations have not been distributed to those in need.
Yesterday it was reported up to 42 victims were found in just one room, although this could not be verified. However it emerged a missing family of five, thought to be Syrian refugees, has been found safe. It also emerged a nine-yearold boy, Amiel Miller, saved his entire family on the 17th floor after waking up and telling his parents: ‘Mum, I think there’s a fire.’
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton yesterday said the controversial advice to ‘stay put’ during a fire will be kept for other blocks. She said this fire was unusual and that ‘more injuries’ would result in other fires in high-rise buildings if the advice was ignored.
Meanwhile Downing Street pledged any illegal immigrants who had been in Grenfell Tower will not be deported if they come forward for help.
The Lord Chief Justice is expected to appoint a judge to oversee the independent inquiry into the tragedy this week.