Grenfall Tower Fire

[General Dryness]

This looks bad. 

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/93685630/live-london-highrise-grenfall-tower-on-fire

 

[General Dryness]

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/

[aRdja]

Fark. Scary shit.

[General Dryness]

It'll be a miracle if there isn't a horrendous number of casualties.

 

Fucks sake.

[Red Phoenix]

Have just spent the last few hours following this on the news/twitter. Horrific. It started around 1am and around a few hours later the entire building appeared to be on fire. Somehow people were still being rescued not long ago though after almost every floor had been on fire for some time. I've still no idea how they managed that. After seeing some of the footage it seems like a miracle that anyone was still alive at all.

 

Can't imagine what people there have just gone through though, tragic.

 

A group of people had warned about the building last year as well : https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Terrifying

[Red Phoenix]

There's quite a bit of footage of this from throughout the night on news/social media as well (a lot of it recorded by people nearby), would recommend being cautious with what you look at if you think you're likely to get upset/freaked out watching some of it.

[Anubis]

Awful. And you have to ask yourself how this can happen in 2017, especially as the residents have continually warned warned against this, such as the blog lost GD posted above. Here is their latest blog post linking to all the previous occasions they have blogged about it.

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com

 

 

Watching breaking news about the Grenfell Tower fire catastrophe. Too soon to even guess at numbers of casualties and fatalities

 

Regular readers of this blog will know that we have posted numerous warnings in recent years about the very poor fire safety standards at Grenfell Tower and elsewhere in RBKC.

 

ALL OUR WARNINGS FELL ON DEAF EARS and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time. Below is a list of links to previous blogs we posted on this site trying to warn the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who own this property and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation who supposedly manage all social housing in RBKC on the Council’s behalf:

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/fire-safety-scandal-at-lancaster-west/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/more-on-fire-safety/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/another-fire-safety-scandal/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/kctmo-feeling-the-heat/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/why-are-we-waiting/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/grenfell-tower-from-bad-to-worse/

 

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/more-trouble-at-grenfell-tower/

 

14 June 2017.

[Red Phoenix]

Sorry General, didn't notice that you'd already posted that. There's another here about a 10mil refurbishment, did they skip all of the safety work or something when they did this? http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/north-kensington-estate-benefits-10m-11329924
 
At The Guardian there's accounts of people who escaped not hearing any alarms as they got out either : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/jun/14/grenfell-tower-major-fire-london-apartment-block-white-city-latimer-road
 

“We saw the fire engines, so we were looking outside at what’s going on. There was no fire alarms anywhere, because we don’t have a kind of integrated fire system – it’s just everyone’s house for itself. I walked out into the common area to see if the lifts are moving, to see if people are in a hassle – nothing. But I could smell the smoke.
 
“I went back inside the house, looked out the window. I started looking down the window – I had to really pull myself out to look down the window, from the 17th floor, and I see the fire blazing, and coming up really fast, because of the cladding – the cladding was really flammable, and it just caught up like a matchstick.”

 

That one's from here : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/jun/14/grenfell-tower-major-fire-london-apartment-block-white-city-latimer-road?page=with:block-5940c3b0e4b00493c827c96d#block-5940c3b0e4b00493c827c96d

 

Am wondering if the refurbishment made the building even more of a fire hazard? Either way it seems like there's quite a bit off when it comes to safety. Makes me wonder about other blocks nearby.

[skend04]

Looks to be like a number of people were trapped on upper floors and there's no equipment to tackle the fire from floor 10 upwards. That's horrifying.

 

All that new cladding would have been packed with insulation. I'm not sure what flame spread classification has to be in that situation but they aren't very fire retardant and probably explains the cladding going up like matchsticks.

[Lee909]

Looks terrible

Some local blaming the new cladding they put up on the buildings. The local council on the BBC going straight on the defensive that they'd been recently checked and were safe.

 

The locals saying they had complaints of gas and fire isdues before.

 

What annoys me are the BBC eye witnesses that phone up.

 

"Im in shock,i dont know what to say etc".

 

That shocked you dug out the BBC phone number and phoned up to give your detailed report

[stringvest]

This is truly shocking.  Looks like the council did't listen to residents' fears of fire risk, and I'd be amazed if there aren't scores of fatalities here. 

[Lee909]

Yeah expecting a high death toll here

 

What is it 27 floors and 6 flats per floor according to a postman. 162 flats

 

 

I'd hate to live in a hugh rise.

[Kloppite]

The cladding you can still see looks fucking horrible I know it's not important or anything.

 

That fire in thd stuff of disaster movies.

[Lee909]

It was only out up a little while ago. Typical cost cutting measure to make it look 'nicer' without the cost of a proper refurb

[Kloppite]

How the fuck has it started though?

[Kloppite]

Looks like the cladding may not have started it and it may have started in a flat but the cladding has spread it throughout the building.

[Trumo]

Really grim stuff, and it's obvious that so many people had no chance to escape. The footage of the building completely alight was like something out of The Towering Inferno. There are reports of fatalities but a number hasn't been given as of yet. It's amazing how often the residents' warnings went unheeded.

[Elite]

Looks like the cladding may not have started it and it may have started in a flat but the cladding has spread it throughout the building.

For the cladding to ignite so quickly and spread like it has, I am very suprised it's passed safety checks.

[Lee909]

Some reports a cooker or fridge blew in the electrics.

 

The council woman said it passes checks a few week backs,resident saying they have had issues for a while and the cladding just went right up as soon as it started.

 

Sounds a bit like a local block of flats to were i work. Someone threw a petrol bomb in a window and the new rubber flooring in the stairwells went up and melted so nobody could escape through the stairs and a old woman died

[Chip Butty]

Heartbreaking listening to that lad getting interviewed on the beeb. Kids have died in this by the sounds of it.

[Karl_b]

Absolutely horrendous. Having been involved in similar tower block refurbishments I can't comprehend how this was allowed to happen. It could be cost cutting but equally could be poor specification and/or a lack of inspection (by designers, contractors or Building Control). A non-flammable insulation should have been used, if this wasn't possible then regular fire breaks should have been inserted. We were heavily scrutinised when we did ours, the sub-contractor had to provide a whole raft of certificates and warranties to prove compliance.

 

Fucking awful.

[Lee909]

Fucking this shit on faceaids

 

I live 18 fucking miles away

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

How the fuck has it started though?

 

It doesn't really matter how it started. Fires can happen at any time. My friend had a fire start in her flat because one of those cheap chargers from China shorted while she was asleep. But she had a smoke alarm alert her to it.

 

It matters how the fuck it spread so quickly and with devastating effect.

[Lee909]

Dont agree mate

If its started because the council have not kept the safety standards up that is important