This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/world/europe/uk-london-fire-grenfell-tower.html

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 7 Version 8
Grenfell Tower Death Toll Rises to 17; U.K. Government Is Criticized Grenfell Tower Death Toll Rises to 17; U.K. Government Is Criticized
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — Under pressure from critics, Prime Minister Theresa May ordered a public inquiry on Thursday into the lethal fire that turned a West London apartment tower into a pillar of charred rubble and that raised anxieties about safety procedures and construction materials in high-rise buildings. LONDON — With the death toll from a horrific London fire rising and many residents still unaccounted for, Prime Minister Theresa May — under pressure from critics — on Thursday ordered a formal inquiry into the disaster that turned an apartment tower into a smoldering ruin.
The death toll from the fire, which began early Wednesday, rose to 17 and is certain to climb further, the authorities warned. As of late Thursday afternoon, 30 people remained in hospitals, including 10 in critical condition. Many residents, possibly dozens, remained unaccounted for. At least 17 people are known to have died in the blaze at Grenfell Tower, which began in the pre-dawn darkness on Wednesday, but that figure is certain to climb, the authorities warned. As of late Thursday afternoon, 30 people remained in hospitals, including 10 in critical condition.
Officials have been racing to check other high-rise apartment blocks, even as investigators comb what is left of the building, Grenfell Tower, with help from search dogs. A police commander, Stuart Cundy, said of the toll, “I’d like to hope that it isn’t going to be triple figures.” A police commander, Stuart Cundy, said of the death toll, “I’d like to hope that it isn’t going to be triple figures.” Officials have been racing to check other high-rises, even as investigators comb what is left of the building, with help from search dogs.
Among the key questions: Did a “stay put” protocol, which told people to remain in their apartments until firefighters arrived, delay residents’ escape? What role did exterior cladding, installed as part of a renovation completed last year, play in the fire’s rapid spread? Should older buildings — Grenfell Tower was completed in 1974 — have to be retrofitted with sprinklers and alarm systems? Grenfell Tower, in the North Kensington neighborhood, housed people from many countries, including Eritrea, the Philippines, Somalia and Sudan. Relatives and friends of the missing have posted pleas on social media seeking information.
Among the key questions confronting investigators and government officials: Did a policy of telling people to remain in their apartments until firefighters arrived put residents in danger? What role did exterior cladding, installed as part of a renovation completed last year, play in the rapid spread of the flames? And should older buildings — Grenfell Tower was completed in 1974 — have to be retrofitted with sprinklers and alarm systems?
Residents said an exploding appliance caused the fire, but officials have not verified that account.Residents said an exploding appliance caused the fire, but officials have not verified that account.
Mrs. May announced the inquiry shortly after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, asked for one, and as questions arose about the role of Gavin Barwell, who was housing minister until last week, when he lost his bid for re-election to Parliament. He is now Mrs. May’s chief of staff. Mrs. May announced the inquiry shortly after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, asked for one, and as questions arose about the role of Gavin Barwell, who was housing minister until last week. (He lost his bid for re-election to Parliament, and is now Mrs. May’s chief of staff.)
Critics say that a much-needed review of fire safety regulations — demanded after a deadly fire at an apartment block in Camberwell, in Southeast London, in 2009 — had languished under his watch. Critics say a much-needed review of fire safety regulations languished under Mr. Barwell’s watch. The review was demanded after a deadly fire at an apartment building in Camberwell, in southeast London, in 2009.
A resident association, the Grenfell Action Group, had complained for years that the local council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which owns Grenfell Tower, and the company that managed the structure had ignored longstanding concerns that the building posed a fire hazard. A residents’ association, the Grenfell Action Group, had complained for years that concerns about fire hazards in Grenfell Tower were ignored by the building’s owner — the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea — and by the company the borough council hired to manage it.
The building, in the North Kensington neighborhood, housed people from many countries, including Eritrea, the Philippines, Somalia and Sudan. Relatives and friends of the missing have posted pleas on social media seeking information. Survivors said they first learned their lives were in danger through word of mouth. They described harrowing scenes, including at least one child thrown from a window who landed safely in the arms of a man below.
Survivors said they first learned their lives were in danger through word of mouth, and they have described a harrowing scene that included at least one child who was thrown from the building and landed safely into the arms of a man below. “The only alarm that went off was my neighbor’s smoke alarm,” said Eddie Daffarn, a 16th-floor resident and member of the Grenfell Action Group. “I thought he had burned some chips. I opened the door and there was smoke, loads of smoke, so then I closed it and thought: This is a real fire, not my mate’s chip pan.”
Eddie Daffarn, a 16th-floor resident who is a member of the Grenfell Action Group, said he was alerted to the fire by a neighbor’s smoke detector. He said a friend on the fifth floor phoned him and urged him to run. “I wrapped a towel around me and opened the door,” Mr. Daffarn recalled. “The smoke was so thick and heavy, I couldn’t see anything. I thought: ‘This is me, I’m a goner.’ ” He finally descended and was helped by a firefighter.
“The only alarm that went off was my neighbor’s smoke alarm. I thought he had burned some chips,” he said. “I opened the door and there was smoke, loads of smoke, so then I closed it and thought: This is a real fire, not my mate’s chip pan.” Mrs. May, already under pressure after a series of terrorist attacks and political setbacks in the election last week, visited the scene on Thursday. So did the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, who said in a statement: “There are thousands of tower blocks around our country. Every single person living in one today will be frightened.”
A friend who lived on the fifth floor phoned and urged him to run, he said. As the government tried to reassure anxious citizens, the policing and fire minister, Nick Hurd, said there was “no room for cool plodding bureaucracy” as the inquiry gets underway. The housing minister, Alok Sharma, promised help for displaced families.
“I wrapped a towel around me, and opened the door,” Mr. Daffarn recalled. “The smoke was so thick and heavy, I couldn’t see anything. I thought: ‘This is me, I’m a goner.’ ” Critics were not assuaged. David Lammy, a Labour lawmaker representing Tottenham, in northeast London, called the fire “corporate manslaughter” and demanded a criminal investigation.
He finally descended and was helped by a firefighter.
“I am lucky to be alive,” he said.
Meriam Antur, who lived on the 19th floor, was one of many residents who said she was told to stay put. “My friend came in and said we had to wait for the firemen and couldn’t go down,” she said, recalling that as smoke entered the apartment, she put a wet towel under the door and began to pray.
“My children were crying, and I’m pregnant,” she said, clasping her belly. “I was so scared. I thought we were going to die.”
Mrs. May, already under pressure after a series of terrorist attacks and the election last week, in which her Conservative Party lost its majority, visited the site of the fire on Thursday. So did the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, who said in a statement: “There are thousands of tower blocks around our country. Every single person living in one today will be frightened.”
As the government tried to reassure anxious citizens, the policing and fire minister, Nick Hurd, said there was “no room for cool plodding bureaucracy” as the inquiry gets underway, while the housing minister, Alok Sharma, promised help for displaced families.
Critics were not assuaged. David Lammy, a Labour lawmaker representing Tottenham, in Northeast London, called the fire “corporate manslaughter” and demanded a criminal investigation.
“Those ‘70s buildings, many of them should be demolished,” he said. “They have not got easy fire escapes. They have got no sprinklers. It is totally, totally unacceptable in Britain that this is allowed to happen and that people lose their lives in this way.”“Those ‘70s buildings, many of them should be demolished,” he said. “They have not got easy fire escapes. They have got no sprinklers. It is totally, totally unacceptable in Britain that this is allowed to happen and that people lose their lives in this way.”
Mark Hardingham, an official at the National Fire Chiefs Council, which represents Britain’s firefighters, welcomed the inquiry and said he expected it would examine the “stay put” policy and questions about sprinkler systems and alarms. Mark Hardingham, an official at the National Fire Chiefs Council, which represents Britain’s firefighters, said he expected the inquiry to reassess the so-called stay put policy and regulations covering sprinkler systems and alarms.
“The fire was truly an exceptional fire the likes of which I haven’t seen in 26 years, and that has to be beared in mind,” he said, adding that in most fires, it makes sense to stay put if a blaze is outside the apartment. “The fire was truly an exceptional fire, the likes of which I haven’t seen in 26 years, and that has to be beared in mind,” he said.
The cladding, added in 2016, will also be a focus of the inquiry. Matthew Needham-Laing, an architect and engineering lawyer who specializes in building defects, said the dark smoke that had engulfed the building was a telltale sign of burning cladding material. The exterior cladding added in 2016 will also be a focus. Matthew Needham-Laing, an architect and engineering lawyer who specializes in building defects, said the dark smoke that had engulfed the building was a telltale sign.
“It looks to me like a cladding fire,” he said in an interview, echoing assessments by other experts. The material in the cladding, he added, is “flame retardant, so it doesn’t catch fire as easily, but the temperatures you’re talking about are often 900, 1,000 degrees centigrade, and in those conditions, any material will generally burn.” “It looks to me like a cladding fire,” he said in an interview, echoing assessments by other experts. He added that the material is “flame retardant, so it doesn’t catch fire as easily, but the temperatures you’re talking about are often 900, 1,000 degrees centigrade, and in those conditions, any material will generally burn.”
After six people died and more than 20 were injured in the 2009 Camberwell fire, a parliamentary group called for a review of fire safety rules, while an inquest advised the government to require that older buildings be retrofitted with sprinklers. That did not happen. After the Camberwell fire in 2009, which killed six people, a parliamentary group called for a review of fire safety rules, and an inquest advised the government to require that older buildings be retrofitted with sprinklers. That did not happen.
The “stay put” policy is also likely to come under review. An inquest after the 2009 fire concluded that residents had stayed 30 minutes longer than they should have and that deaths could have been prevented. An inquest after the 2009 fire concluded that residents followed the stay put advice 30 minutes longer than they should have.
“If you have good fire resistance between flats, there is less risk if you stay in place than if everyone runs out of the building at the same time,” Sian Berry, chairwoman of the Housing Committee of the London Assembly, said in a phone interview. “But this shouldn’t be applied in a hard and fast manner, even after there is danger.” “If you have good fire resistance between flats, there is less risk if you stay in place than if everyone runs out of the building at the same time,” Sian Berry, chairwoman of the Housing Committee of the London Assembly, said in an interview. “But this shouldn’t be applied in a hard and fast manner.”
Ms. Berry said that fire-risk assessments in high-rise buildings were less exacting than they should be. “It used to be that the fire service would routinely undertake these assessments, but now building owners decide when to do them, and they don’t always do them often enough,” she said. Ms. Berry said central fire alarm systems were not required for residential buildings because, to be effective, such systems must be monitored constantly. Grenfell Tower did not have one. Instead, individual apartments were fitted with smoke detectors.
She added that centralized fire alarm systems were not required for residential buildings since they needed constant monitoring to be effective. Grenfell Tower did not have one. Instead, individual apartments were fitted with smoke detectors. The building also lacked a sprinkler system; sprinklers were not required in buildings built before 2006.
The building also lacked a sprinkler system; regulations requiring such systems did not come into place until 2006. In an interview, Brian Meacham, associate professor of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, said that European fire codes tended to rely more on fire-resistant construction, while American building codes typically are more likely to require active measures like sprinkler systems.
In an interview, Brian Meacham, associate professor of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, said that European governments tended to rely on so-called passive fire protection, emphasizing fire-resistant construction, while American building codes typically take a more aggressive approach using active measures like sprinkler systems, along with fire-resistant materials. “The British approach works well when the passive fire protection works well,” he said, “but if you have a problem with the firewalls or the doors, or a fire spreads externally, and the passive protection is lost, you have limited options.”
“The British approach works well when the passive fire protection works well,” he said, “but if you have a problem with the firewalls or the doors or a fire spreads externally, and the passive protection is lost, you have limited options.” He said most building codes in the United States require two separate routes of escape from every floor, in case one becomes blocked or overcrowded. In Britain, experts said, only one escape route is typically required. Grenfell Tower had a single staircase linking all floors of the building.
He said that most building codes in the United States requires two means of escape, such as stairwells, per floor to avoid bottlenecks in a fire. In Britain, experts said, codes typically require one means of exit on each floor in high-rises. Grenfell Tower had a single staircase running the length of the building.