‘Disaster waiting to happen’
Dozens feared dead in tower block inferno as experts claim safety warnings were ignored
AN INFERNO that engulfed a tower block, killing at least 12 in what could become one of the worst fire tragedies in British history, was a “disaster waiting to happen”, experts said last night.
Fears were raised that green energy concerns were put before safety as it emerged that cladding used to make the building more energy efficient could have accelerated the fire.
Last night, police confirmed 12 people had died following the blaze at Grenfell House in Kensington, west London, but they expected the number of dead to rise. Hundreds of the roughly 500 residents in the block were unaccounted for last night. Some estimated that the death toll could rise above 100.
A total of 74 people were being treated in hospitals, with 20 of them in a critical condition. The fire was thought to have been sparked by a faulty refrigerator, started just before 1am yesterday and quickly spread up the building.
There were fears children were among the dead as survivors told how they saw babies being thrown from windows in the hope that they could survive.
Some residents knotted sheets together to make ropes in attempts to escape. Some tried to manufacture makeshift parachutes from bin bags and bedding and leapt out of windows.
Many of those who survived only did so by ignoring official advice to stay in their rooms and close their front doors until the fire was over.
Mickey Paramasivan, 37, said: “There were explosions everywhere you looked, lots of bangs, blue gas coming out everywhere you looked. About 12 floors up I saw three children waving from a window and then there was just an explosion and they disappeared.”
Ministers were warned about the fire risk of cladding as far back as 1999,
The Daily Telegraph can reveal. It was installed on the council-owned Grenfell block last year as part of a £10million refurbishment by a company that was later liquidated after a firm they were working with refused to pay out in a dispute over their work.
Tens of thousands of buildings in the UK have been fitted with cladding, it is estimated, leading to calls for an immediate review of safety.
Experts said that the cladding – which is used to insulate the building – had acted like a “chimney” for the flames by allowing the fire to spread upwards through the gaps between the cladding and the building walls.
Residents had warned that the 24-storey block was a “catastrophe” waiting to happen but their complaints “fell on deaf ears”, they said yesterday. Reg Kerr-bell, the former chairman of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) – the body that manages the building – said he stood down several years ago over safety concerns.
Just two days before the blaze, he had spoken to a former colleague about their fears.
Mr Kerr-bell said: “This is a scandal. This is one of the biggest scandals in the country – and it could have been avoided...
“We felt there was a disaster waiting to happen and we were going to have a meeting with the MP so that we could put these concerns to them.”
Last night Mike Penning, a former fire minister, called for an urgent review into the use of the insulation material. He said: “We need to expedite this as far as possible – this cladding is used extensively in the UK and abroad.”
Nick Hurd, the current fire minister, said checks are now being carried out on tower blocks that are going through a similar refurbishment process.
Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said there will be a “proper investigation”,
adding: “If there are any lessons to be learnt they will be, and action will be taken.” She added: “Once again the fire service and police have shown incredible bravery... many people will be working around the clock in the NHS and elsewhere to provide help and support to those who have no home to return to.”
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “I have never seen a fire that has engulfed an entire building like this in a career of more than 30 years.”
Mrs May’s new chief of staff is facing questions over his role in a delayed fire safety review.
Gavin Barwell, a former housing minister, has been accused of “sitting on” a review into building regulations at tower blocks after a deadly fire in south London in 2009.
Dr Jim Glockling, technical director of the Fire Protection Association, said that they had been lobbying the Government to review the safety of combustible materials since 2014.
“There has been an emerging body of evidence surrounding some of the materials being used and now we have an appalling demonstration of what can happen,” he said.
Alongside the cosmetic appeal of cladding, it is used as an insulation to make buildings more sustainable to meet green energy requirements.
“It could be that this is the quest for sustainability trumping other concerns,” Dr Glockling warned.
The Health and Safety Executive, the police and the fire service are now expected to launch a large-scale investigation into the safety of the building and whether regulations were complied with.