Grenfell Tower fire- thread three

[RhythmAndStealth]

Seventeen tragic deaths confirmed so far, six victims provisionally identified.
Number of those who perished feared to rise into triple figures as search proceeds
Search for remaining victims expected to take weeks, sadly it’s considered unlikely that it will be possible to identify all the victims
Names of those still missing start to emerge
Nearly 80 victims being treated across six hospitals, with 15 still in critical care
Hundreds of people displaced and dispossessed, concerned about when and where they will be rehoused

Public inquiry ordered.
Criminal investigation launched.
Serious questions being asked about fire safety regulations, management of social housing, austerity and inequality.
Fire Brigade search of building expected to take weeks due to complexity of building, extent of fire damage and the necessity of undertaking a painstaking fingertip search.

“There must be arrests after this monstrous crime” David Lammy MP

‘Families rehoused last night been left clueless about where to spend next nights. No word from #kccouncil. Chaos.” Emily Maitlis, BBC

“We have to act as if it was our friends, our family in that block” Nick Hurd MP, Policing and Fire Minister

“Someone needs to be held accountable. These deaths could have been prevented.” Local resident to Sadiq Khan

Thread 2
Thread 1

Point scoring/actual political related concerns
Potato/potahto

Maybe we should reserve the top floor of all council run high rise buildings for MPs who are away from their constituency and visiting London and see if that focuses the mind when they are setting the standard for fire safety?

Couldn't agree more.

But who were the counsellors who received all the pleas from the residents group? where are they now?

I hope I did ok on the VD prog - I've managed to make contact since with the two lovely chaps who were talking too. They made me read a letter I hadn't actually written and that sounded really cold so I added in some of my own words. I couldn't see the studio either so it probably seemed a little detached

You did brilliantly alba :) can I just say how appropriate your surname is too!

You came across brilliantly. Sorry, do you mean that letter wasn't yours? That's bizarre!

LanaKanes Those were the kind of comments that i saw on a local fb group last night.

What you have written in your post and worse. I was disgusted. People have died Children have died. People and kids are missing.

Poorer people really are seen as worthless.

Hearing people interviewed who lived in the blocks or neighbouring towers, it is apparent they were completely ignored and neglected

I had similar issues over fire safety and I wasn't listened too either until I got very nasty with the council and threatened all sorts. Even then it was like walking through treacle and the response was zombie like.

I am not very poor nor rich. The thing with fire related stuff however means not much has to be tweaked and done to massively increase safety.

alba I saw you! You did great!

There are so many regulations for buildings. Heck, if you want to send perfume in the post you have to tell the post office so they can put a special label on it meaning it can't go by air, only by road, as its flammable.

I just don't get how in today's day and age there exists a building product such as a cladding system that doesn't meet health, safety and fire regulations. There are specifications for every kind of product and detailed specs on how they should be applied correctly. Then they have to be passed by building regs. Even if you put something like windows or supporting beams in your own home, there are building regs.

when people stop voting conservative lana

Ah I see but problems have existed in these towers for decades? What did Labour do then - the champion of the poor to make these buildings safe???

Guardian have the story that the refurb bought the cheaper less fire resistant cladding.

I don't think everyone in there is poor, looks to be mixed use. There were flats to rent for 1750 a month and looked of a very high standard. The Italian couple will not have been HA I wouldn't of thought? This has affected all apart from the super rich

I agree peace
There should be riots......there should have been riots years ago.

When you ignore vast scores of residents, when they are concerned about their safety, don't be surprised when they die, that the shit hits the fan.

I am so so fucking angry about this.

Vast majority of the flats in the building were socially let. Only a small number owned and they would have been let out too.

Ah I see but problems have existed in these towers for decades? What did Labour do then

I think the old style building from 1974 wouldn't have gone up like this. The NEW improvements, removing fire stoppers and putting flammable cladding has caused the fire to spread so fast.

TM surely has to go now. She really is incapable of getting her head even the most basic of human responses.

Surely there has to be a No Confidence vote. This government and local government scenario is just so far removed from reality and humanity.

I'm so tired of the poor being treated as second or worse class and no deserving of the basic considerations in terms of fairness, human rights and now safety.

The manufacturer has now confirmed the spec was the cheaper and more flammable option. :(

How much do we have to earn to qualify as worthy of basic safety? What do the poor have to do to be considered human beings?

It would be nice to use other sources than the Fail & the Bun... despicable rags.

www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/16/mail-online-story-about-alleged-cause-of-grenfell-fire-prompts-more-than-1100-complaints

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/16/sun-journalist-grenfell-tower-victim-hospital

My husband owns a fire sprinkler company and he said it would only have cost £250,000 to £300,000 for sprinklers to be fitted in the tower block, How they spent millions on refurbishing it and didn't include Fire sprinklers is beyond me

star this is what I cant understand I cant even get a window in my terraced home without passing fire regs, the window fitter has been ultra strict about it! I have to have one window being a bottom opener for fire and so we can get out. But its also a massive danger as dc can fall out.

Strange that in some cases H and S is beyond stringent on fire and yet - others like me with our fire alarm issue - an actual fire - and yes- council were impossible to rally and help and yet all we needed was LL to put proper fire alarm it - beggars belief.

Of all the things that get prioritised and action ed all the time - fire is very near the top - and yet not for people in high rises?

There should be riots......there should have been riots years ago.

When there ARE riots, they are dismissed as being the Peasants Revolting and they are shut down and listened to even LESS than before.

Ah I see but problems have existed in these towers for decades? What did Labour do then - the champion of the poor to make these buildings safe???

It's definitely that govts of ALL colours are responsible. It was Labour in 2005 who scrapped fire inspections/certificates by the fire service and passed the responsibility to the landlord or their agents to ensure their properties were "safe" from fire. Before then, fire officers would have to regularly visit and inspect all kinds of premises. All that's gone now. No political party comes out of this well.

I'd seen the letter late last night and made some amends, they were meant to have all the people who it was supposedly from on the prog too but none were...

All the promises made after the riot were BS and I really hope this doesn't end the same way, although we all know it probably will.

We left London last year but were living under a HA and I just found out a metal rail from a 9th floor balcony was glued instead of welded and fell off in the wind, just missing a mother and baby. There were all kinds of cost cutting nightmares going on and I sat on the residents' committee for a while - it became a full time job just dealing with all the stuff breaking constantly. We were treated like idiots by the reps from the HA and our MP did her best but essentially nothing was ever really resolved. One block had no water for months in a brand new building and we never had any fire safety info in 3 years.

Idonttrusther the councillors are all still there! Judith Blakeman is head.

Would parachutes be any use in tower blocks? I imagine it's still pretty dangerous as difficult to get far from the building, but still better than jumping.

I don't think just holding onto sheets would be any good as your hands wouldn't be able to hold them if they did become an affective air break

Just saw an awful interview with a man on Sky now. He was nearly in tears when he said he still has an image of a little girl in a window. Heartbreaking. For a change the interviewer could see he was suffering and didn't pursue it but advised him to seek help from police liaison officers.