Flat 113 is a masterclass in responsible journalism
This week’s episode of Archive on 4 was one of the most serious, at times harrowing, I can remember. Flat 113 at Grenfell Tower (Radio 4, Saturday) attempted to unpick some of the mistakes that were made by the fire service during the blaze that engulfed Grenfell Tower on June 14, 2017, killing 72 people. This is an incredibly tricky case to make – not for want of evidence, but because people don’t want to hear it.
Most of us cannot even imagine summoning the courage to run into a 24-storey inferno to save a bunch of strangers. We can only give thanks that such heroes exist. It seems incredibly ungrateful – even cruel – to pin any of the blame for the Grenfell disaster on the 250 brave men and women who tried valiantly to control the blaze and clear the building.
But there’s no question that mistakes were made. The first stage of the Grenfell Inquiry – from which most of this “archive” material is taken – heard hours of testimony from both survivors and firefighters about the things that went wrong on the night. Flat 113, on the 14th floor, was the focus of this programme because what happened there, as one of the lawyers for the survivors put it, “stands as paradigm of preventable death”.
From the start, 999 operators underestimated the scale of the threat. We listened to the first of more than 300 emergency calls made from Grenfell Tower that night. “Quick, quick, quick, quick! It’s burning,” shouted Behailu Kebede, owner of the flat where the fire started. “Yes, I know it’s burning but they are on their way,” replied the operator, with a touch of irritation rendered unbearably poignant in retrospect. “You’ve only just called.”
The three residents of flat 113, like everyone else, were told by 999 to stay put. (Grenfell was supposed to have been designed to prevent the spread of fire.) Firefighters moved five more people into the flat because it was less smoky than most. Then – reassuring the huddled neighbours that someone would soon be back to rescue them – they left. Only four of the eight survived the night.
There were many reasons for this tragedy. Firefighters didn’t have the breathing apparatus they needed to get residents down the smoke-filled stairs. Their old-fashioned radios didn’t work properly, fatally hampering communication. Vital information was instead scribbled down on bits of paper and passed around, or mislaid entirely. When the second lot of firefighters reached flat 113, they didn’t know there were eight people in there; nor did they check the flat to ensure that everyone was out. The anguished candour with which they admitted all of this to the inquiry only confirmed their personal bravery.
This was a masterclass in responsible journalism, made by people who know the facts intimately. (Producer Jasper Corbett also edits the Grenfell Tower Inquiry podcast. Presenter Katie Razzall has been reporting on Grenfell since the night of the fire.) They took us carefully through the procedural failings and human errors of the night, without losing sympathy for everyone involved. As Razzall reminded us, the next phase of the inquiry will turn to the really fatal mistakes: “the decisions that led to a 24-storey tower being wrapped in combustible cladding”.
The Essay slot on Radio 3 was hijacked last week by giants, bards and zombie princelings. Mabinogi (also known as the Mabinogian) is a collection of medieval Welsh folk tales, thought to be Britain’s earliest prose stories. This fast, funny adaptation by Lucy Catherine told the tale of Pryderi (Darragh Mortell), a young hero who travels north to woo a princess. (“Have you ever been to North Wales?” “It may not be as bad as they say.”) All clanging swords, whinnying horses, magic cauldrons and unrequited love, it was like Game of Thrones with added Celtic wit. Download it from BBC Sounds to put some adventure into your commute.
The Absence of Normal, Radio 4’s drama series based on Alexei Sayle’s short stories, is so good it makes one look forward to Monday mornings. But last week – disaster! – the station accidentally broadcast an old episode. Lord (David) Blunkett, the former Labour minister, actually phoned into Feedback (Radio 4, Sunday) to register his dismay. “No apology,” he grumbled, “no ‘by your leave’.” The correct episode, The Last Woman Killed in the War, was finally aired this Monday. It was perhaps the best yet: a wholly unpredictable tragicomic parable about the transformation of social attitudes in Britain. I hope his lordship is mollified.