Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington - news and discussion

[agricola]

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the fire industry ffs

 

[killer b]

That reporting is outrageous for so many reasons. People are dying simply because of cuts to the fire brigade, cuts to local authorities Etc. Anyone would think we lived in a poverty stricken underveloped country

I think that's the plan.

 

[cupid_stunt]

What a tragedy. I can't look at the individual stories without welling up with tears. It's striking how many of the local residents are making the links between what happened and the council running the area down as part of their gentrification strategy, however inconvenient this might be for the BBC journalists who clearly don't want the interviews to go there.

Yet, they just recently spent £10m on this block, much of it on bloody cladding that seems to be at least part the reason the fire spread so quickly, instead of a bloody sprinkler system for a fraction of that cost.

 

[Dr. Furface]

Don't apologise for his language. He's furious and he should be.

I know, fucking unbelieveable that was

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

More of the same: Willful complacency furthering gentrification.

 

[Ranbay]

Grenfell Tower

 

[hash tag]

For my sins, about 12 years ago, I managed a sheltered housing tower block, just 12 floors but it was enough. One benefit night one of my tenants decided to have a drink and a smoke and as a result of falling asleep while smoking, she destroyed her flat. There was barely a mark to be seen outisde her door, yet alone the rest of her landing or even the rest of the block. It is not rocket science to make sure your fire doors work properly, the fire windows and such like.
Moving forward, I know Wandsworth carried out a major fire audit after the Southwark fire. I hold my nose and acknowledge it is a tory borough, but at least they tried to make sure that fire safety regulations were adheared to.
Poor bastards; this should not have happened. Ultimately, it is the victims that will pay and not the 40 odd strong councillors of that tory borough or the government that has so badly cut funding.
Incidentally, the block did not have a communal sprinkler system and as far as I know, still doesn't. In the first instance, the fire should be prevented from travelling.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

This is starting to stink.

I wouldn't put it past corrupt property developers. They do it in Poland... they seem to like setting shit aflames. Normally it's empty listed buildings where they are responsible for the upkeep but would rather a nice shiny block, or there's an accidental fire after letting it fall into disrepar.

Then there was this terrifying story when an activist was burnt to death:


Housing activist found dead in Warsaw

 

[editor]

More of the same: Willful complacency furthering gentrification.

Seems to be getting a whiff of the Cressingham Gardens about it ....

 

[not-bono-ever]

I have moved up to utter fucking rage now. This is a black swan event that was not supposed to happen, it was kicked down the line and removed from discussion, a gamble based on austerity and big money influencing an authorities requirement to provide safe and secure housing of a minimum standard. The savings, cost cutting and other benefits do not justify one loss of life, never mind potentially scores. Heads have to roll - this directly or indirectly goes right to the top and their policies. The regime have to be held to account

 

[hash tag]

I have moved up to utter fucking rage now. This is a black swan event that was not supposed to happen, it was kicked down the line and removed from discussion, a gamble based on austerity and big money influencing an authorities requirement to provide safe and secure housing of a minimum standard. The savings, cost cutting and other benefits do not justify one loss of life, never mind potentially scores. Heads have to roll - this directly or indirectly goes right to the top and their policies. The regime have to be held to account

Whose? The council for the way they have managed their resources, the govt. for cutting funding.
There are other places you can look as well, but as is the case with our politics, there will no doubt be endless buck passing.

I am so angry with rage, but also shedding tears for those caught up in this

 

[AverageJoe]

One thing I found shocking was Good Morning Britain with the live Videos of the blind man trapped in his house and even naming him too.

Would like to know if he is ok.

Theyve been slated for that in the press with people reporting it to Ofcom. I thought it was sensationalist and salacious.

 

[dessiato]

I'm waiting for the justification that the Tories will inevitably pump out. I can hear them saying, "but this was an unforeseeable event, and the cuts in fire services, and the safety regulations did not affect the probability of something like this happening." I can hear the lies to come, and I'm both sickened and angered.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Across the board hash tag, across the board, too early to begin talking of enquiries as we do not even know the fate of many, but this cannot be buck passed to some poor career sap in planning - the entire cosy political system and its policies are at fault

having to throw your babies out of a burning building. can you imagine that ? FFS

 

[Barking_Mad]

the fire industry ffs

Have to keep the money flowing!

 

[dessiato]

Across the board hash tag, across the board, too early to begin talking of enquiries as we do not even know the fate of many, but this cannot be buck passed to some poor career sap in planning - the entire cosy political system and its policies are at fault

having to throw your babies out of a burning building. can you imagine that ? FFS

I can't, and hope that I'll never need to find out how very awful this must have been for all the people involved, from the trapped to the rescuers.

 

[brogdale]

Grenfell Tower was covered in material to keep luxury flat owners happy. That’s being blamed for multiple deaths

Both unsurprising and shocking at once.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Presumably the building will have to come down completely after this. And I doubt whatever gets built in its place will be social housing with priority for the original residents.

 

[not-bono-ever]

anyone got a legit just giving link for this ? there seem to be loads and I am not sure which would be the best. I don't know what else to do

 

[stuff_it]

Its not.

Just to repeat for people who may be worried about their own building. There is no cladding panel on the market in the UK which is combustible, otherwise you could just have people setting fire to the outside of a building.

Most things will burn if the temperature is high enough so phrases such as flammable and fire-proof are pretty redundant, that's why we talk about combustibility. Basically will a product make the situation worse.

Harley Facades were pretty quick to take down their page about the Grenfell Tower development. It sounds as though in this case their product did make the situation worse, causing the fire to rapidly spread all over the building.

 

[Teaboy]

I know people are pretty raw at the moment but I do think there are a lot of leaps being made. Lets bear in mind that this block was refurbished, it was clearly intended to make the lives of the residents better. Elsewhere residents have had their homes knocked down and turned into yuppie flats whilst they have found themselves turfed out to Essex or wherever. This one was a case of improving existing housing stock.

Whilst there clearly are wider issues regarding the effects of cuts on fire brigades and quite clearly a serious issue with the way the building was managed, currently on the face of it it the fire itself does appear to be a construction issue. How it spread so quickly is unclear and very worrying.

 

[1927]

I have no doubt that when we know the full facts of this utter , pointless tragedy that the tory unholy trinity of 'austerity', 'deregulation' , and 'efficiency savings' will loom large over the huge waste of life that is unfolding. And that the tories will inherit a national firestorm of rage that is only just beginning.

Derugulation of Fire legislation was passed under Blair!

 

[dessiato]

Presumably the building will have to come down completely after this. And I doubt whatever gets built in its place will be social housing with priority for the original residents.

I can imagine that there's some who see this as an opportunity for social cleansing of the area. Affordable housing? Not enough money in it.

I feel so angry about this the more that I read about it. I find myself filled with hurt for the people. I'd like to think it'll never happen again, but with the Tory attitudes, I fear it will.

I've said before that I used to be a member of the Tory party, but this lot, since Thatcher, disgust me more and more. It is not the party that I, or my family ever respected. Money grabbing, heartless, are just two ways of describing them that come to mind. And it's the poorer people they make suffer. Bastards the lot of them.

 

[mod]

You can donate here

Help raise £5000 to help the residents of Grenfell tower following the tragic fire

 

[Idris2002]

Derugulation of Fire legislation was passed under Blair!

And what was Blair but a Tory in disguise?

 

[1927]

Harley Facades were pretty quick to take down their page about the Grenfell Tower development. It sounds as though in this case their product did make the situation worse, causing the fire to rapidly spread all over the building.

To be fair that may have been out of respect.

 

[1927]

Would it really be used in this kind of situation though? PIR/PUR surely more common... Kingspan's is phenolic (I have no idea what that is), Celotex's is PIR.

Though a kind of common theme is that these are expensive products...

Kingspan has flame retardants to a degree, but the aluminium foil backing burns like fuck.

 

[dessiato]

And what was Blair but a Tory in disguise?

That's why I voted for him. He was the type of Tory that I'd always approved of. How wrong was I.

 

[kebabking]

anyone got a legit just giving link for this ? there seem to be loads and I am not sure which would be the best. I don't know what else to do

I'd be tempted to go through the British Red Cross.

Given some of the shenanigans surrounding, at least, the ticket sales for the Manchester bombing concert, I'd be very, very wary of giving money to some unknown random.

Possibly a direct contribution to one of the local churches/community centres that have been asking for physical aid?

 

[planetgeli]

Grenfell Tower was covered in material to keep luxury flat owners happy. That’s being blamed for multiple deaths

Both unsurprising and shocking at once.

That is just fucking beyond the beyond. Cunts. Absolute fucking cunts.