Warning of Grenfell catastrophe ‘fell on deaf ears’ – tower block action group
AN action group at Grenfell Tower said its warnings fell on “deaf ears” after it highlighted safety concerns.
The cause of the blaze at Grenfell Tower, north Kensington, is not known, but a blog post from Grenfell Action Group in November said “only a catastrophic event” would expose the issues.
The group said there was only one entry and exit to the tower during improvement works at the block in Latimer Road and it had issues with evacuation procedures.
After the fire, the group posted: “All our warnings fell on deaf ears and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.”
The group claimed access to the building was “severely restricted” for emergency services and other vehicles and that residents were advised to stay in their flats in case of fire.
The tower block was recently refurbished at a cost of £8.7m, with work completed in May last year. The exterior of the 1970s-built tower was modernised with cladding and replacement windows, while additional homes were added using vacant space in the building.
On its website, Rydon Construction said: “Externally, rain screen cladding, curtain wall facade and replacement windows were fitted, improving thermal insulation and modernising the exterior of the building.”
But a resident of the 17th floor of the block, identified as Methrob, told LBC Radio the “real issue was when it caught fire to the cladding outside”.
He added: “That’s when I noticed the fire from outside when I looked out the window. By the time that we got downstairs, the fire had gone all the way up and it was just about reaching our windows on the 17th floor.
“The whole one side of the building was on fire. The cladding went up like a matchstick.”
Methrob said residents had been concerned about safety, adding there had been warnings “for over a year”. He said one man was “trying to get everyone to get together to do something before it was too late”.
Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick – chairman of the all-party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group – said the Government has resisted calls to install sprinkler systems in high-rise blocks in the wake of the Lakanal House tragedy.
Mr Fitzpatrick, who was a firefighter for 20 years, told LBC: “We’ve been pressing for fire sprinkler systems in buildings where we think it’s appropriate – certainly over a height level and in places where there is vulnerability, care homes and in schools – and Government has been resisting that for some time.”
But the MP for Poplar and Limehouse added: “There’s obviously a huge number of questions going to have to be asked about what happened to Latimer Road but it’s very early in the situation.
“It’s a bit early to start pointing fingers, I would have thought.”
Kensington’s new Labour MP Emma Dent Coad, who is a local councillor and a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, said she had raised concerns with the authority about fire safety at tower blocks in the area.
“There have been a lot of concerns over the past few years on various fire issues,” Ms Dent Coad told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I have brought it up quite a few times.”