420 high-rises need fire patrol 24 hours a da y
Grenfell cladding still on buildings
TENS of thousands of people are living in high-rise blocks with Grenfell Tower-style flammable cladding that need 24-hour fire patrols, it has been revealed.
An inquiry into the 2017 inferno in West London found that aluminium composite cladding was the main reason the blaze, which killed 72 people, spread so rapidly.
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick concluded the panels’ polyethylene cores “melted and acted as a source of fuel”.
Last month, following the Mirror’s Grenfell: Never Again campaign, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £1billion Building Safety Fund to help cover the costs of removing unsafe cladding from all private and social sector buildings over 18 metres tall.
But 40 of the fire authorities that responded to a freedom of information request revealed a total of at least 420 high-rise buildings are currently guarded by fire patrols because unsafe cladding has still not been removed.
They also said they had attended 300 fires at those blocks.
The National Fire Chiefs Council said: “We are concerned that dangerous cladding remains on many buildings.”
While some landlords and leaseholders are paying for these patrols, others are refusing to. Rachael Loftus, 42, who lives in a dangerous timber-clad building in Leeds, previously told the Mirror leaseholders were forking out £3,840 a week from the building’s sinking fund. Residents were told when that ran out they would have to pay £840 per flat, per month. After the Mirror approached it last month, the building’s owner Centrick promised to cover the cost of the patrol itself.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry also found that plastic insulation behind the aluminium cladding probably helped the fire spread.
EVERY day valiant NHS staff are putting their own lives at risk to care for others.
This is the greatest challenge our health service has faced since it was founded.
Those who work for the NHS have responded amazingly. But the same cannot be said of the bosses and politicians.
There is still a desperate shortage of personal protective equipment and kit. Medics have resorted to cutting up hospital curtains to fashion makeshift gowns, and are relying on goggles from their kids’ schools for masks.
Others on the front line say that, in addition to the lack of PPE, they do not have enough dialysis machines. Ministers must rectify this shameful situation immediately.
During the war assembly lines were reconfigured to support the military effort. The virus demands a response of a similar scale.
Too many doctors, nurses and carers have lost their lives. To prevent further deaths they must get the right kit and protection. Now.