Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cops probe fire chiefs over ‘stay put’ policy at Grenfell
1hr 50min until evacuation order
FIRE bosses could face criminal charges over the Grenfell fire, for telling residents to stay in their flats after the blaze took hold.
Scotland Yard said the “stayput” strategy forms part of their investigation into the tragedy and they will start quizzing suspects in the coming months.
Firefighters battling the blaze allegedly asked managers to abandon the policy as flames enveloped the tower but senior officers waited for an hour and 50 minutes before ordering an evacuation. Met Police commander Stuart Cundy said: “It’s an absolute obligation on us to be looking at the most serious potential criminal offences that may have been committed.” DS Matt Bonner, who is leading the criminal investigation, said 36 firms and organisations are being probed over the construction, refurbishment, maintenance and management of the West London building. Mr Bonner said: “The Health and Safety Act places a requirement on individuals and organisamen tions to conduct their business in a manner which doesn’t put people at risk.
“We need to consider all aspects of construction, the management and the response, to come to a judgment as to any person or organisation that has fallen short in that responsibility.”
Asked about the “stay-put” policy he added: “It’s part of our assessment of what happened and therefore falls within our investigation.
“I will fall short of judging whether it was right or wrong but it is an aspect.”
Fire engineer Dr Barbara Lane has told the Grenfell inquiry that London Fire Brigade’s policy to tell people to stay in their homes had “effectively failed” half an hour after the fire – which killed 22 people – started at 1.26am, last June. Residents were not told to leave until 2.47am.
Defending the LFB at the inquiry yesterday, Stephen Walsh said Grenfell “was by far the most challenging event” its crews had experienced in living memory.
Martin Seaward, of the Fire Brigades Union, said there was “no obvious and safe alternative”. He added the emergency response should not be “exploited by those who created the danger”.
ON THE STAY-PUT POLICY