Today I am thinking about the Grenfell Tower block of flats in West London and I cannot imagine how it will be for all the residents of that bit of the city who will have to live in its shadow for many months to come, let alone the actual residents who did not survive.
Of course there will be a massive inquiry, and speculation about what happened and how it happened will be rife until the enquiry is completed, but I did hear one eye-witness ask how this could happen at all in the 21st century, with all the fire and H.S. regulations in place which we normally moan about.
All I know is that it seems very likely (according to one survivor) that there were no audible alarms set off at all. He was alerted by his neighbour hammering on his door.
The only other thing we know is that the cladding on the outside of the block was recently replaced, top to bottom. In the footage, you can see the cladding burning as if it was made of plastic or similar rather than fire-resistant material.
This is just awful.
Plastic. I only just looked at the news. Dreadful.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to understand how the cladding material managed to bypass the safety regulations.
ReplyDeleteGiven enough heat - which is not as much as you may think - even steel burns furiously.
ReplyDeleteDesperate.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be something very wrong with that building, it has gone up like a Roman candle... Those poor people, all sorts of things must have gone through there minds with all the terrorism going on at the moment. I have a feeling someone is going to be doing time for manslaughter over this.
ReplyDeleteJust listened to eyewitnesses on LBC awful!
ReplyDeleteA plethora of human faults here. It might have been better if each flat was equipped with an easy to use, powerful, fire extinguisher. Surely the Fridge that started it all could have been doused. A tragedy.
ReplyDeleteEach flat was supposed to be equipped with the right detection systems to alert professionals to put out fires which have got so out of control that you cannot just sprinkle them with a £20 item and expect to win once it has got hold.
DeleteDo you really expect the residents of the flats to take the place of trained fire-fighters at 2.00am in the morning when they are asleep, and put out a real-life towering inferno?
They were chucking their own children out of 10th floor windows. Can you imagine what would bring you to do that with your grand-children?
I know that if I had a machine that caught fire here I would do my utmost to put it out, and if a really efficient extinguisher was on hand, so much the better. A rubbish £20 item would do nothing.
DeleteYou would need a variety of extinguishers according to what the fire was caused by, and you would need to wake up before the fire took hold in order to choose which one to use - if you were half asleep and one whole room was on fire, this could be difficult.
DeleteI have a £20 powder extinguisher out side of my bedroom door, just incase the fire is electrical in origin and water would make matters worse. If it cost £50 I doubt if it would be more efficient.
We do, however, have working smoke and heat detectors throughout which are tested every 6 months. I would expect to be woken by them in time to be able to deal with a fire (on our premises, not below) and in time to be able to use the £20 extinguisher to good effect. The people in Grenfell Tower did not have working smoke detectors, so any extinguisher for amateur use would most probably have been no good.
I read it here, and flipped over to the news. Tragic.
ReplyDeletePeter is now shouting at the television about how can this happen in 2017.
ReplyDeleteThis is a direct result of austerity measures. Not the lack of smoke and fire alarms, but the cladding.
DeleteI have used the same stuff myself. It is wafer-thing sheets of aluminium sandwiching a core of polyurethane foam. Lightweight and very cheap.
It has caused no fewer than 6 catastrophic high-rise fires around the world so far, killing many people. Usually poor people because it is only used in poor areas for this purpose.
It should have been banned in the UK years ago, but it wasn't because it is so cheap and easy to use.
This has to be the end of austerity for projects like housing and anything else which compromises people's safety.
We can do without luxuries, but we cannot - must not - save a few quid at the expense of ordinary poor people's lives.
End austerity now, don't you think, or is that a bit left-wing for you?
No. He called all my lot cunts.
DeleteThey're all cunts.
DeleteHis actual words were "all those fucking cunts in Parliament...."
DeleteIt isn't just parliament. It's everywhere. Short-sighted, 'growth'-inspired cunts who care nothing for anything other than either feathering their own nests, or - like most of us - just surviving.
DeleteIt is utter shit.
He is still shouting.
DeleteAbsolutely awful Tom - just doesn;t bear thinking about.
ReplyDeleteSome years ago they wanted to drill a tunnel through the mountain in order to arrive 7 minutes earlier by train. The tunnel began to shape and had to be lined with something. In came the fabolus Rocca Gil. Out went the fish, the sheep and the drinking water. The farmers wells dried out or got poisoned. Do I need to say that the entire project took several years to complete with an insane cost. I am so sorry for the people in that house, and so sorry that money still is the one reason for putting people in danger. Money to save means lives to waste. Shame on those builders, shame on those who set aside peoples safety. Those dreadful pictures, unbearable, just like Weaver says. May there be just as many helpful people this time, I pray for that, Tom!!!
ReplyDeleteOrdinary local people in the North West Kensington London area have been wonderful. They have offered all they can to help. In times like these, real humanity - something which has been seemingly lacking - comes right out immediately.
DeleteMost of the first people on the scene were Muslims, because they were awake due to Ramadan rituals about eating after sundown.
There really is such a thing as Society, no matter what people try to tell you.
So in all this misery we can still have hope for humanity you mean? That is my experience too. There is for certain someone to blame in this and I am a bit concerned about the anger and despair many people rightfully feel here. We have to sit down together and face the real issue: How can we prevent a thing like this to happend? I heard a women on the radio today talking about the gates of hell opening over them, and she was convinced that this had to do with them being foreigners and people in difficult situation. We can't leave such thoughts unheard. Blaming won't help, but acting responsibly and respectfully perhaps will. Not only the officials in London,but everywhere!!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Tom, there is a thing called Society.