.jpg) The fire during the early morning hours of 14 June 2017 | |
  Grenfell Tower  Grenfell Tower  Grenfell Tower | |
| Date | 14 June 2017 |
|---|---|
| Time | 00:54 BST (first emergency call) |
| Duration | 24 hours (under control) Over 60 hours (fully extinguished) |
| Location | Grenfell Tower, North Kensington, London, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | |
| Type | Structure fire |
| Cause | Electrical fault in a refrigerator; spread of fire largely exacerbated by flammable exterior cladding on the building[1] |
| Outcome |
|
| Deaths | 72 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 74 (20 serious) |
| Property damage | £200 million – £1 billion (estimated)[3] |
| Inquiries | Public inquiry hearings opened 14 September 2017. Final report published 4 September 2024. |
| Inquest | Open for all 72 victims; pending police investigation. |
| Website | www |
| Grenfell Tower, the fire, and its aftermath |
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On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. Seventy people died at the scene and two people died later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escaping. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha oil-platform disaster and the worst UK residential fire since the Blitz of World War II.
The fire was started by an electrical fault in a refrigerator on the fourth floor.[note 1] As Grenfell was an existing building originally built in concrete to varying tolerances, gaps around window openings following window installation were irregular and these were filled with combustible foam insulation to maintain air-tightness by contractors.[4] This foam insulation around window jambs acted as a conduit into the rainscreen cavity, which was faced with 150 mm-thick (5.9-inch) combustible polyisocyanurate rigid board insulation and clad in aluminium composite cladding panels, which included a 2 mm (0.079-inch) highly combustible polyethylene filler to bond each panel face together. As is typical in rainscreen cladding systems, a ventilated cavity between the insulation board and rear of the cladding panel existed; however, cavity barriers to the line of each flat were found to be inadequately installed, or not suitable for the intended configuration, and this exacerbated the rapid and uncontrolled spread of fire, both vertically and horizontally, to the tower.[5]
The fire was declared a major incident, with more than 250 London Fire Brigade firefighters and 70 fire engines from stations across Greater London involved in efforts to control it and rescue residents. More than 100 London Ambulance Service crews on at least 20 ambulances attended, joined by specialist paramedics from the Ambulance Service's Hazardous Area Response Team. The Metropolitan Police and London's Air Ambulance also assisted the rescue effort.
The fire is the subject of multiple complex investigations by the police, a public inquiry, and coroner's inquests. Among the many issues investigated are the management of the building by the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council and Kensington and Chelsea TMO (which was responsible for the borough's council housing), the responses of the Fire Brigade, other government agencies, deregulation policy, building inspections, adequate budgeting, fire safety systems, the materials used, companies installing, selling and manufacturing the cladding, and failures in communications, advice given or decisions made by office holders. In the aftermath of the fire, the council's leader, deputy leader and chief executive resigned, and the council took direct control of council housing from the KCTMO.
Parliament commissioned an independent review of building regulations and fire safety, which published a report in May 2018. In the UK and internationally, governments have investigated tower blocks with similar cladding. Efforts to replace the cladding on these buildings are ongoing. A side effect of this has been hardship caused by the United Kingdom cladding crisis.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry began on 14 September 2017 to investigate the causes of the fire and other related issues. Findings from the first report of the inquiry were released in October 2019 and addressed the events of the night. It affirmed that the building's exterior did not comply with regulations and was the central reason why the fire spread, and that the fire service were too late in advising residents to evacuate.
A second phase to investigate the broader causes began on 27 January 2020. Extensive hearings were conducted, and the Inquiry Panel published their final report on 4 September 2024. Following publication, police investigations will identify possible cases and the Crown Prosecution Service will decide if criminal charges are to be brought. Due to the complexity and volume of material, cases are not expected to be presented before the end of 2026, with any trials from 2027. In April 2023, a group of 22 organisations, including cladding company Arconic, Whirlpool and several government bodies, reached a civil settlement with 900 people affected by the fire.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
news.met.police.ukwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Cladding crisis could cost more than £50bn, contractor says". Inside Housing. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ Evans, Steve (22 June 2017). "Insurance cost of Grenfell Tower fire". Reinsurance News. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Inquiry finds "compelling evidence" Grenfell Tower did not comply with building regulations". Dezeen. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
- ^ "Fire barrier installation on Grenfell 'some of the worst I've seen', says supplier". Housing Today. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
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