Grenfell Tower

[RhythmAndStealth]

Watching the news just now and I can't believe my eyes. It looks absolutely horrific.

I want to think everyone got out safe, but sadly I just can't.

Some of the news reports are about alleged poor safety standards and dangerous living conditions. If that's true it just beggars belief.

Agreed. My thoughts and thanks to the emergency services. Those people going into that building as it burns.

I'm sure DS has been told when having fire safety talks at school by the local fire brigade is that if you are in your bedroom and the smoke alarm goes off you shouldn't automatically open the door and try and get out, although that would be your first instinct. You should feel the door first. If it is warm you should put something at the bottom of the door and stay in your room and possibly attract help from your window.

As it would be difficult to tell where the fire is in a block of flats I assume that is why they give the advice of staying in your flat until help comes. Obviously if the block of flats are fitted with the correct safety features this would be the best option. Sadly in the case of this fire it would appear safety features were missing

I doubt those actually responsible will be prosecuted. If anyone else is, it'll be some scapegoat.

I doubt those actually responsible will be prosecuted. If anyone else is, it'll be some scapegoat.

Mercury- I agree, amazing bravery

Horrific.
I've seen the blogs from residents crying out for things to be done about fire safety.
The management company have blood on their hands. The person ultimately responsible should be facing imprisonment.

And the disparity of wealth in London is thrown into stark relief with this tragedy. So many multi million pound homes cheek by jowl with tower blocks which are under-resourced and badly maintained. But let's crack on and let oligarchs and millionaires drive up house prices without any penalties whilst local folk live in unfit conditions.

This is going to be huge , I expect (hope) that all council buildings will be assessed now for safety.

I can tell you now that any tall buildings with that same cladding fitted in the same way (with gaps) are most definitely not safe.

It's absolutely heartbreaking.

hackmum, it's all very well berating the 'journalists' for their obsession over Kim Kardashian's arse but that responsibility very much lies with the celeb gossip-hungry public who buy and click that fodder. They aren't clamouring for proper investigative journalism, they want to read crap and would choose that.

This tragedy isn't the fault of the journalists or the media.

If you are local, St Clement church on Sirdar Road is co-ordinating donation of clothing, toiletries and toys. People have literally their pyjamas and nothing more.

Fire doors, smoke alarms, sprinkler systems, and at least two fire escape routes is the current advice (from memory). You can also buy personal emergency evacuation chutes.

Thanks Coral. Do you knw if Grenfell Tower had all those things?

If it was the cladding to blame, it was only replaced LAST YEAR, as part of a £10m refurbishment of the building.

What a fucking disaster. Those poor people.

How were they allowed to use the cladding in the first place??

So, so sad. Poor, poor people

@thereallochnessmonster I am unsure, however, it doesn't seem like those systems were working from what residents are saying (a few have said the fire alarms did not go off).

Just woke up and seen this.
Absolutely horrific, you can't even begin to imagine.
Getting flashbacks to 9/11 as that's what it's reminding me of, especially hearing that someone's waving out the window.

I've just read something that said the cheapest cladding is extremely flammable, more expensive is fire proof. I don't get how any can think it was ok to turn a tower block into a fucking matchstick

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Some good news

This is a Buzzfeed reporter on site:

Hannah Al-Othman @hannahalothman
Firefighters from @londonfire managed to bring people to safety who were trapped on the top floor. They do an incredible job.

That's from about 10mins ago.

But lots of people still missing.

I hope that's true RedTooth

Fingers and toes crossed

Nearly 8 hours after the fire brigade arrived, that cladding is still on fire.

The same cladding that will be on other tower blocks.

There is a blog post from the tenants action group doing the rounds on Twitter at the moment.
It was dated LAST YEAR.

Here you go:

<strong>It is our conviction that a serious fire in a tower block or similar high density residential property is the most likely reason that those who wield power at the KCTMO will be found out and brought to justice! The Grenfell Action Group believe that the KCTMO narrowly averted a major fire disaster at Grenfell Tower in 2013 when residents experienced a period of terrifying power surges that were subsequently found to have been caused by faulty wiring. We believe that our attempts to highlight the seriousness of this event were covered up by the KCTMO with the help of the RBKC scrutiny Committee who refused to investigate the legitimate concerns of tenants and leaseholders</strong>

We believe that these investigations will become part of damning evidence of the poor safety record of the KCTMO should a fire affect any other of their properties and cause the loss of life that we are predicting

<strong>In the last twenty years and despite the terrifying power surge incident in 2013 and recent fire at Adair Tower, the residents of Grenfell Tower have received no proper fire safety instructions from the KCTMO. Residents were informed by a temporary notice stuck in the lift and one announcement in a recent regeneration newsletter that they should remain in their flats in the event of fire. There are not and never have been any instructions posted in the Grenfell Tower noticeboard or on individual floors as to how residents should act in the event of a fire. Anyone who witnessed the recent tower block fire at Shepherds Court, in nearby Shepherd’s Bush, will know that the advice to remain in our properties would have led to certain fatalities and we are calling on our landlord to re-consider the advice that they have so badly circulated.</strong>

<strong>The Grenfell Action Group predict that it won’t be long before the words of this blog come back to haunt the KCTMO management and we will do everything in our power to ensure that those in authority know how long and how appallingly our landlord has ignored their responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their tenants and leaseholders. They can’t say that they haven’t been warned!</strong>

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