The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people (and injured many more) was caused by a faulty fridge (not the owner’s fault) and due to lack of fire safety maintenance (two residents who asked the council to do more died in the fire with their families) and using the wrong kind of combustible cladding in a tower block, all deaths were preventable. In addition, many pets died in the fire (including some with guardians who refused to leave) and other pets ended up shelters, when their human guardians died.
The cause of the fire was combustible foam that was used to fill in irregular gaps in the windows of a tower block in the wealthy London borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Yet the council (it’s run by different people now) did not listen to concerns, and following the fire did remove some flammable renders and insulation, but then left local people living in cold damp properties, without installing alternatives to keep council block residents warm and dry.
Even the local Citizens Advice Bureau was sold off, to make way for a Pret coffee shop. The borough is home to Harrods and Kensington Palace, and many long-term second homes that lay empty mostly, while local people can’t afford to buy.
four-storey buildings are better (and safer)
Grenfell Tower is one of the ugly tower blocks built in the 60s, but modern urbanists like Tim Halbur say that cities like Paris are better, where nearly all buildings are no more than four-storeys high. This not only fosters better community, but obviously is safer, in the event of a fire. It was found that Grenfell only had one stairway and no fire sprinkler system (and even today, most tower blocks have no sprinklers and some in Yorkshire still contain the same dangerous cladding, that still has not been replaced).
Fire crews were told to instruct a ‘stay put’ policy (that means most people will escape if the fire is contained). But in this 24-storey building, it all went wrong, which is why the enquiry took seven years, to find out why.
Yet Grenfell Tower was always a tragedy waiting to happen. Back in 1973 a similar fire occurred on the Isle of Man, causing 50 deaths due to a fire that tore through a leisure building due to dangerous sheeting on the building’s exterior. And in the same year as Grenfell burned, London Fire Brigade had warned all London borough councils to review the use of such panels, to reduce the risk of fire.
how to prevent another Grenfell Tower tragedy
- Register electrical appliances, to be notified of safety repairs & recalls. US law requires a steel back to fridges to help contain fires, whereas until recently, UK fridges only needed plastic backing which is a fire risk. But there is still no law to stop second-hand plastic-backed fridges being sold in the UK.
- Ensure councils do proper fire checks and inspections. And if needed, immediately replace with safer cladding.
- Surrey Fire Service has a page of tips for councils and builders, to ensure tower blocks are safe. These include sub-dividing buildings or better escape routes, having suitable (labelled) fire doors, fitting smoke detectors in each room and maintaining ‘dry risers’ (empty pipes that fire brigades can pump water to multiple levels).
- Fix My Block is a site where tower block residents can download and sample letters, to ensure the law is adhered to for fire and gas safety, cladding and repairs.
what to do with the site of Grenfell Tower
The tower still stands as a sad memorial. But visionary architects say that in a borough with poor damp housing, the tower should be knocked down and replaced with four-storey mixed-use buildings, as an example of what good social housing could look like, and be safer too. Camborne Mews is one idea suggested, plus suggestions to re-landscape the area into a pedestrianised street with ground floor private flats, benches and pet-safe flowerbeds, and a small pavilion for community facilities, which together would also serve as a nice memorial, to honour those who died.
In July 2024, the local council apologised and refunded the money, after charging local residents cleaning fees for upkeep a memorial to Grenfell victims. The fight for justice goes on, get involved and support Grenfell United, made up of relatives and friends of those who died. It continues to campaign for safer cladding and other ways to ensure people are safe in their homes.