Smoke vents failed just eight days before blaze

THE ventilation system meant to prevent Grenfell Tower becoming clogged with smoke failed days before the inferno, the inquiry heard.

Investigators found that broken vents left fleeing residents unable to see through smoke.

Some of those who made it out of the tower later succumbed to the toxic fumes.

PSB, the firm that made the vents, said it received an email eight days before the fire from JS Wright – the company that installed the system – to say they were not working.

PSB was asked to send an engineer, but said there was no maintenance contract. Two days before the fire, it offered to investigate for £2.160, but did not receive a response.

It told the inquiry that a maintenance contract comprising of two visits a year had already been rejected by JS Wright in April 2016.

Dr Barbara Lane, a fire engineer appointed by the inquiry, said the vent system did not pass building regulations. Her report said: ‘Had the smoke control system operated correctly and the fire service been able to take control, they might have used the system to sequentially vent smoke from the lobbies on each floor.’

But PSB boss Martin Booth said it was designed to meet regulations. He said it could only operate on one floor at a time, adding: ‘It could not have prevented smoke from fires on multiple floors impacting lobbies and the common stair on multiple levels.’