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Ladders Came Up Short, and Cost Lives, in London Blaze, Firefighters Say Ladders Came Up Short and Cost Lives in London Blaze, Firefighters Say
(1 day later)
LONDON — More lives could have been saved in the Grenfell Tower blaze in London that killed at least 80 people, firefighters say, but a lack of equipment, particularly fire engines with ladders high enough to reach the top floors of the 24-story building, impeded the rescue effort. LONDON — More lives could have been saved in the Grenfell Tower blaze in London, firefighters say, but a lack of equipment, particularly fire engines with ladders high enough to reach the top floors of the 24-story building, impeded the rescue effort.
“We just think it’s almost criminal that an international city like London, the 13th-richest in the world, and our highest ladder only goes up 30 meters, where some third world countries have 90-meter ladders,” said Lucy Masoud, a London firefighter and an official with the Fire Brigades Union. “We just think it’s almost criminal that an international city like London, the 13th-richest in the world, and our highest ladder only goes up 30 meters, where some third-world countries have 90-meter ladders,” said Lucy Masoud, a London firefighter and an official with the Fire Brigades Union.
The London Fire Brigade’s 30-meter ladder (about 100 feet) reached only to the building’s 10th floor, and was not called to the scene until nearly half an hour after other units when the blaze broke out in June, Ms. Masoud said on Saturday. The London Fire Brigade’s 30-meter ladder (about 100 feet long) reached only to the building’s 10th floor, and it was not called to the scene until nearly half an hour after other units responded when the blaze broke out in June, Ms. Masoud said on Saturday.
The delay in sending a high-ladder truck to the Grenfell fire meant that firefighters could not get above the flames racing up the building in order to pour water down on them. Firefighters rescued 65 people from the blaze, but at least 80 more people died. The delay was reported by the BBC program “Newsnight” late Friday night. The delay in sending a high-ladder truck, known as an aerial or aerial appliance in Britain, meant that firefighters could not get above the flames that were racing up Grenfell Tower in order to pour water down on them.
Not sending a high ladder was standard procedure for the first response to a fire in a tower block, according to a spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade. She said that firefighters responding to a high-rise blaze usually focused on rescues from within the building, and that the initial firefighting plan was an internal attack on the flames. Firefighters rescued 65 people from the blaze, but at least 80 others died. The delay was reported by the BBC program “Newsnight” late Friday night.
The delay in calling a fire engine with a high ladder, known as an aerial or aerial appliance in Britain, occurred because the blaze had been reported as having originated from a refrigerator on the fourth floor of the building, and firefighters who responded to that apartment thought they had the fire under control. They were unaware that flames were climbing the exterior cladding of the building, which many experts have said was not fireproof. Not sending a high ladder was standard procedure for the first response to a fire in a tower block, according to a spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade.
The “Newsnight” program said it had obtained an “incident mobilization list,” apparently an internal London Fire Brigade document, showing that a 100-foot aerial unit was not called out until 1:19 a.m. on June 14 — 25 minutes after the first fire trucks were dispatched at 12:54 a.m. — and the ladder truck did not arrive until 1:32 a.m. She said that firefighters usually focused first on rescues from within the building, and that the initial firefighting plan was an internal attack on the flames.
London’s firefighters do not have the tallest aerial fire engines in Britain, and had to get one from suburban Surrey County. At a reported 217 feet high, that firetruck’s ladders reached just below the top of Grenfell Tower. But it did not arrive until several hours after the fire had started. (In other countries, high-ladder trucks reach more than 300 feet.) The Grenfell Tower blaze was first reported as having started with a refrigerator on the fourth floor, and firefighters who responded to that apartment thought they had the fire under control.
Firefighters were angry about that and other failings, which they believed contributed to the Grenfell disaster, said Ms. Masoud, the treasurer of the firefighters’ union. She also blamed firefighting budget cutbacks of 130 million pounds in recent years for the lack of adequate equipment. They were unaware that flames were already climbing the exterior cladding of the building, which many experts have said was not fireproof.
“We have absolutely always said that the resources we have in London are not as serious as they could be,” she said. Firefighters have long been asking for more and higher ladder trucks, which she said could have been a “game changer” at Grenfell. The “Newsnight” program said it had obtained an “incident mobilization list,” apparently an internal London Fire Brigade document, showing that a 100-foot aerial unit was not called until 1:19 a.m. on June 14 — 25 minutes after the first fire trucks were sent at 12:54 a.m. — and did not arrive until 1:32 a.m.
“Undoubtedly, we’d have been able to save more lives,” Ms. Masoud said. “We’ve been arguing this for years.” Lacking anything taller of their own, London firefighters sought help from suburban Surrey County. A truck was sent with ladders that could reach to just below the top of Grenfell Tower, but it did not arrive until several hours after the fire started.
The firefighters’ union said that since 2010, 11,000 front-line firefighters’ jobs had been eliminated — almost a fifth of the entire work force — and in a recent letter to Parliament, it asked that the union be included in the investigation of what went wrong at Grenfell. Ms. Masoud of the firefighters’ union said budget cutbacks were to blame for the lack of adequate equipment. “We have absolutely always said that the resources we have in London are not as serious as they could be,” she said. Firefighters have been asking for more and higher ladder trucks, which could have been a “game changer” at Grenfell, she said, adding, “Undoubtedly, we’d have been able to save more lives.”
“Cuts have stripped the fire-and-rescue service of vital assets including fire stations, pumps and the high rise aerial appliances that are essential for resilience at large scale, protracted incidents,” the Fire Brigades Union said in the letter. The firefighters’ union said that since 2010, 11,000 front-line firefighters’ jobs had been eliminated — almost one-fifth of the work force.
Matt Wrack, the union’s general secretary, called the Grenfell fire “a really big turning point” in fire-safety awareness. “Cuts have stripped the fire-and-rescue service of vital assets, including fire stations, pumps and the high-rise aerial appliances that are essential for resilience at large-scale, protracted incidents,” the Fire Brigades Union said in a letter to Parliament.
“The best tribute we can make to the people who have lost their lives is to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Mr. Wrack said, speaking in a video posted on the union’s website. “We’ve had years of deregulation, local authority building control deregulation, cutting back fire-safety departments, allowing developers to almost do whatever they want.” Matt Wrack, the union’s general secretary, called the Grenfell fire “a really big turning point” in fire-safety awareness. “The best tribute we can make to the people who have lost their lives is to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Mr. Wrack said, speaking in a video posted on the union’s website.
He added that in the West London area, home to Grenfell Tower, “we’ve seen a 50 percent reduction in fire cover.” In a telephone interview, he said he welcomed the fire brigade’s plans to have high ladder trucks sent immediately to future high-rise fires, even if they are not always needed. “If they can be there in 10 minutes rather than half an hour, that is worth doing,” he said.
Mr. Wrack, in a telephone interview, said he welcomed the fire brigade’s plans to have high ladder trucks standing by routinely at future high rise fires, even if they were not always needed. But the bigger problem, he said, was cost-cutting across the board: “A firefighter who was heavily involved in management levels of the incident told me that a quicker response from fire stations now closed, and fire engines now eliminated, would have enabled them to get people out at earlier stages.”
“If they can be there in 10 minutes rather than half an hour, that is worth doing,” he said. The bigger problem, though, was cost cutting across the board in fire protection services, he said. “A firefighter who was heavily involved in management levels of the incident told me that a quicker response from fire stations now closed, and fire engines now eliminated, would have enabled them to get people out at earlier stages.” Dany Cotton, the London Fire Brigade commissioner, has said that London previously had fewer high-ladder trucks because they were hard to maneuver on the city’s many narrow streets, but that newer models were more maneuverable and the city was upgrading its fleet.
Dany Cotton, the London Fire Brigade commissioner, has said that London previously had fewer high-ladder trucks because of the difficulty in maneuvering large vehicles on the city’s often-narrow streets, but that newer models were more maneuverable and the city had been in the process of upgrading its fleet. The spokeswoman confirmed that the London Fire Brigade changed its procedures on June 22 so that a high-ladder truck would be among the first vehicles sent to a high-rise fire. The change, she said, “was in direct response to the government’s action to address concerns of cladding on buildings.”
The spokeswoman confirmed that the London Fire Brigade had changed its procedures on June 22 so that a high-ladder truck would be among the first vehicles sent to a high-rise fire. In the future, instead of four fire engines being sent immediately, six will be sent, including one aerial appliance. Many Grenfell survivors have questioned why the fire brigade did not deploy more advanced equipment at the fire, one of the worst it has fought since World War II.
The interim change, she said, “was in direct response to the government’s action to address concerns of cladding on buildings.” Prime Minister Theresa May’s government on June 27 ordered a national inquiry after 100 percent of cladding on 95 buildings tested across Britain failed fire-safety tests.
Many survivors of the Grenfell blaze have been critical that the fire brigade did not deploy more high-tech equipment at the site of its worst blaze since World War II.
“Why didn’t they use a helicopter to spray water at the flame?” asked Yassin Adam, 44, who escaped from the fourth floor with his wife, daughter and pregnant sister.“Why didn’t they use a helicopter to spray water at the flame?” asked Yassin Adam, 44, who escaped from the fourth floor with his wife, daughter and pregnant sister.
“They tried to focus on the lower floors, but what about the higher floors?” said Abu Bakr, whose relative Hassan Ibrahim lost his wife and two daughters from the 23rd floor. “Why didn’t they call the fire plane?”