Some 800 London families are being moved into temporary housing after firefighters said it was unsafe for them to stay in tower blocks renovated by a company that worked on the Grenfell Tower block.
A fire at Grenfell on June 14 claimed 79 lives after recently installed exterior cladding quickly caught fire and engulfed the building in flames.
The exterior aluminum cladding with polyisocyanurate foam insulation has failed all post-fire safety checks, said Police Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack.
“Preliminary tests on the insulation samples collected from Grenfell Tower showed that they combusted soon after the test started,” she said.
Normal fire safety procedure is to keep residents in their apartments while firefighters combat a blaze. That is because apartment buildings can usually keep fires contained to a unit. But once Grenfell’s exterior caught fire, the flames engulfed the building and spread back into the interior.
The Independent reports that many residents that were told to remain in their apartments or followed this protocol likely died.
On Friday, June 23, the municipal authority in north London said it was urgent to move the 800 families into temporary housing.
“What I will tell you is that the local authority would not make a decision like this lightly, they thought about it long and hard and they decided the constituents weren’t safe which is why they’ve made a decision to evacuate people overnight,” said local Labour Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq.
“I realize it’s disruptive to people’s lives but the constituents safety comes first. If it’s not safe then people need to go,” she said.
Residents of tower blocks on an estate in Camden were being moved out overnight.
Grenfell had undergone an $11 million refurbishment, which was completed in 2016.
Independent of that renovation, many residents had long complained about fire safety conditions, including expired fire alarms, trash like mattresses collecting in the hallway, and the lack of a second exit from the building.
The Grenfell Action Group, formed by residents of the building, had warned their landlord, KCTMO, of the conditions as recently as November 2016.
The fire began with a refrigerator on the fourth floor, but the resulting death and rapid spread has authorities looking into criminal charges, said McCormack.
“We are looking at every criminal offense from manslaughter onward. We are looking at every health and safety and fire safety offense and we are reviewing every company at the moment involved in the building and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower,” said McCormack.
Matthew Little for Epoch Times
Matthew Little for NTD
