The Grenfell Tower
Inquiry publishes its first report on Wednesday, October 30, on the initial
phase of its investigations dealing with events on the night of the fire in
June 2017 and the response of the emergency services.
In the run-up to the
report’s publication, London’s fire commissioner has called for a specific
review of the “stay put” strategy which was in force at Grenfell at the
time of the fire.
Victims’
families have raised additional concerns that the report’s findings
will be swept aside by the ongoing Brexit crisis, questioning the publication
coming so close to the original planned withdrawal date and whilst Parliament
continues to debate withdrawal, the possible calling o a General Election
before Christmas and the Queen's Speech.
The second phase of
the inquiry, due to begin in January 2020, will look at the actual
refurbishment of the tower block and all those directly involved in the work.
Wednesday's first
phase report is expected to be highly critical of the "stay put"
advice issued to people within high-rise buildings in the event of a major
fire.
The London Fire
Brigade has already released its own study to call for the Government to take
stronger action and undertake urgent research on ‘buildings that fail’ on fire
safety which leaves ‘stay put’ advice no longer viable.
London Fire
Commissioner, Dany Cotton said: "I want the public and especially the
Grenfell Tower community to know everything we are doing to learn from that
night and to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.
“It was the single
largest residential building fire London Fire Brigade has ever fought and the
building should have protected the people that lived there in the way it was
supposed to.
“That is not what
happened and we will always remember the 72 lives lost and the bereaved, the
survivors and the impact it continues to have on the local community.
"Fire spread
the entire height of Grenfell Tower in less than 30 minutes. Residents and
firefighters were placed in impossible conditions we had never experienced
before. That is why I am calling for the Government to reverse more than 20
years of neglect in relation to fire safety and to undertake urgent research on
‘buildings that fail’, which means ‘stay put’ advice is no longer viable in
those buildings.
"Since 2014,
there have been more than 5,000 high rise fires in London alone and in the vast
majority of these incidents ‘stay put’ advice has been effective. It’s very
important for people to know that.
“It is completely
understandable that stay put advice has been questioned, but we are talking
about buildings that fail, rather than advice that fails and there is no clear
alternative, which is why this research is needed.”
The construction
industry is already taking action to improve building regulations and consult
on fire safety, whilst the Government announced a new approach in the Queen's
Speech based on the Hackitt review.
