Tragedy tower: could it happen here?

THE NEWS about the fire which has gutted Grenfell Tower in West London stunned Londoners as they woke up this morning to the horror of what had happened overnight. Our hearts go out to those who survived and our sympathies and condolences go to those whose loved ones are missing, have been hurt, or have lost their lives.

The second thought that came to us was: could such a tragedy repeat itself? In a borough called “Tower Hamlets”, our residents have a pressing need to know how this tower block tragedy happened and what has been done to ensure it does not happen again.

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What we know about Grenfell Tower so far is this. It was first built in 1974 by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea -120 homes over 24 storeys (27 in some reports). All Council homes in that borough are now managed by a Tenant Management Organisation which does not seem to enjoy the support of all the tenants. Last year Grenfell Tower was refurbished: the work included covering the building in plastic cladding, fixed to wooden slats.

Like many tower blocks, the emergency fire procedures relied on assuming that the whole block would never catch fire. Residents were formally advised that if there was a fire in their own flat, they should leave their flat – but if there was a fire elsewhere in the building they should stay in their flat and block cracks around the front door to ensure no smoke came into their flat and then await rescue by the fire brigade.

To date, these fire procedures have, by and large, been sufficient. There have been few fires in London tower blocks, and no previous fire has taken hold of a whole block so quickly.

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A fire began in Grenfell Tower shortly before 1am this morning. It seems to have started in one flat. There are two distinctive features of this fire, though.

•First, it spread very quickly. Early reports from eyewitnesses say that having started on or about the second floor, on one side of the block, the fire had spread to the top of the block within 15 minutes and quickly circled the whole building. Why this happened can only be speculation at this stage, but this morning it looks as if that cladding must have been a large part of the reason why the fire spread so fast. The plastic classing appears to have been flammable rather than fire retarding, and it may be that the manner in which it was attached may have left a cavity beneath it which helped the fire to spread.

•Second, the fire released a thick, pungent black smoke. It was this smoke which woke some of the residents – but it was also this smoke which stopped many more from escaping. The smoke came into corridors very quickly: this suggests that it did not come in from individual flats but had some other route into the building – possibly windows in the corridors. It also got into the one escape stairwell – a major factor hindering escaping residents. Again, this unusual smoke must have come from the cladding.

Eight hours later, the building was gutted – and leaning, possibly on the brink of collapse. This shows the intensity of the heating generated by the fire. Again, this is speculation, but the fact that the cladding caught fire so easily must have generated heat which caused it to spread further, faster – exponentially. Eye witnesses report hearing windows popping in the heat from the fire on the outside of the block. This would have let fire into the flats, giving it new fuel and spurring it on yet further – and, of course, trapping those residents who were obediently following procedures and staying put, or who had not managed to escape.

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Firefighters were on the scene within six minutes and began work straight away, risking their own lives to rescue others. Their work was supposed to include rescuing residents who were following procedures and staying inside their flats, but the heat and smoke were so intense that soon they were unable to get into the building. What is odd about the photographs of firefighters at the scene which have been published so far is how despondent they look. It is hard for the general public to deal with news of deaths on such a scale – but for professional firefighters, going out with the expectation that they will save lives, being confronted with the impossible must be very hard.

The fire was soon labelled a major incident. At least 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters attended. At least twenty ambulances came too, taking 50 casualties to five hospitals. At least six people have died, but dozens are missing and that toll will rise. Eye witnesses compared what they saw with 9/11, as trapped individuals flashed lights to signal they needed rescue, as the lights then stopped flashing, and as desperate people jumped out of their flats from far too great a height to have any chance of survival.

“Clearly something’s gone wrong – there should be safe smoke-free access up to the highest floors and internal water supplies for firefighters.” said Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, in his first response to the news. The Grenfell Action Group, a campaign group of local residents, was widely quoted: they had been warning for around four years that fire safety was not being taken seriously in the borough and in that block in particular.

An All-Party Parliamentary Group has been asking for fire safety regulations which apply to tower blocks to be improved for four years. Their fears were prompted by a fire at Lakanal House in south London, where exterior cladding was not fire resistant. Sound familiar? That fire took place in 2009. Governments have not acted. The last Minister who didn’t take action was Gavin Barwell – who is Theresa May’s new Chief of Staff.

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The Lakanal House fire prompted something of a review of fire safety regulations in Tower Hamlets. Around the same time, there was a small fire in a flat in one tower block on the Isle of Dogs. The fire brigade attended quickly and dealt with it – and then issued the landlord with a list of improvements which had to be made to bring the block up to standard.

The landlord did make some improvements. These included fitting new seals to the front doors. However, residents pointed out to the landlord that the old seals were resilient brush seals which ensured doors onto the landing were airtight (and therefore kept smoke out, which was a good thing because procedures told residents to stay in their flats and await rescue). The new seals were rubber. They expanded when hot – a design which allows a door to become sealed when a fire is on one side of it, which keeps a resident safe for an extra 20 minutes or so as the fire has to burn through the door to get into the flat, not just come through the gap under the door. The landlord refused to acknowledge their error.

How often do the various social (and private) landlords in the Borough test smoke alarms on communal landings? Do they inform new tenants of the fire safety regulations, and are these displayed all around the blocks? How do new private tenants of absentee leaseholders get told about the procedures? How often does the fire brigade inspect landlords’ arrangements?

Social housing tower blocks are not the only problem. There are ever more residential tower blocks being built by private developers. These are often built right up to the edge of the road, leaving very little pavement. They are often very close together: this would make rescue of residents from the higher floors very difficult, and also, in the case of an inferno like the one in Grenfell Tower, risk spreading fire in one tower block to a neighbouring one. Don’t think that developers are incapable of using the wrong kind of cladding. A number of residents who have bought flats in private tower blocks on the Isle of Dogs are in dispute with developers and their insurers on issues to do with substandard building.

The Council has not yet issued any kind of response to the Grenfell Tower fire which can reassure residents that Tower Hamlets’ trademark tower blocks are safe. How often does the Council, which regularly meets with social landlords in the borough, raise the question of fire safety standards? How stringently does the Council, in its role as the local planning authority, enforce fire safety standards on private developers? The Council has to act quickly to reassure local residents.

•The emergency number for those looking for relatives who may have been in Grenfell Tower last night and who are missing is: 0800-0961 233.

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