1SC Guarding Media Centre.

From my last blog: Tuesday 29/10/2019 it’s now obvious the main focus and anger from survivors and The Grenfell United Group is focussed on those who were brave enough to attend a raging fire, place their own lives in danger and enter a burning building.  Whilst I understand their anger that is, I empathise, their focus and anger should be directed at those responsible for the Tower Block not at those brave men and women who are suffering today who also risked their lives to save the lives of people they didn’t know, the residents of Grenfell.

The report says some of the 72 people who were killed could have been saved if the building was evacuated sooner.  The LFB said it was "disappointed" by some of the criticism of individuals, me too!

The inquiry, which examined what happened on the night of 14 June 2017, concluded that "many more lives" could have been saved if the advice to residents to "stay put" had been abandoned earlier than 02:35 BST.  It said London Fire Brigade's preparations for such a fire were "gravely inadequate". Whilst this might be true to some extent who was responsible for the maintenance of the building and the fact the fire was able to enter the building that should have been sealed from fire?

The brigade's commissioner Dany Cotton, who is due to retire in April 2020, expressed her "deepest sorrow" that firefighters had not been able to save those who died, but said the inquiry had no expert evidence to support its conclusion about evacuating the tower.  It would not have been possible or safe to evacuate residents through a "narrow, smoke-clogged stairwell" with the number of firefighters who would have been available for that task said Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union.

The report also concluded that cladding surrounding the tower did not comply with building regulations and was the main reason for the fire's "shocking" spread, is this not the main factor, who signed off on the cladding as fit for purpose from RBKC the council who owns and looks after the building?  All repairs and maintenance we are told are purchased via a tendering process, therefore, who placed the works order and who checked the specification as correct and fit for purpose? It shouldn’t be to hard to track the responsible person unless the file is somehow lost, how convenient that would be for RBKC, the answers to the Grenfell Tower Disaster lies in a single file that’s should be marked (Grenfell Maintenance/Repairs) it may also be an idea to ask the manager in charge of the Tower Block for specific answers.  You may find the manager has moved on conveniently, but the name and address of the responsible person for Grenfell Tower will lay with the Personnel section of RBKC any good seasoned or week 2 investigator should find it quite easily.  Its always better to start at the beginning for answers as when you start the other way things and persons get lost quite easily in the maze and confusion of tragedy and loss.

Our thoughts go to the ones who perished that tragic night along with their families and loved ones, but also, we should consider those who took part in the rescue that night, these brave men and woman of our emergency services, fire, ambulance/medical and police service, heroes of London.