Grenfell inquiry accused of focusing on junior firefighters

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Admin

Fire chief says inquiry should have centred on cladding and government policy

Firefighters have accused the Grenfell Tower public inquiry of injustice by focusing on the shortcomings of rank and file officers while failing to scrutinise those in power, including the prime minister, Boris Johnson, who oversaw firefighting in London for eight years as mayor.

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said on Tuesday that it was “unfair and unjust” that firefighters were being publicly scrutinised in the long-awaited report being published this week, while political leaders were not.

Grenfell inquiry finds fire brigade ‘gravely’ ill-prepared for blaze

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Admin

Long-awaited report into tragedy that killed 72 people says shortcomings cost lives

The London fire brigade’s readiness for the Grenfell Tower fire was “gravely inadequate” and fewer people would have died if it had been better prepared, a long-awaited public inquiry report into the disaster that killed 72 people has concluded.

The report into the biggest single loss of life in London since the second world war also ruled that the building had been refurbished in breach of safety regulations and that contrary to the evidence so far of the cladding panel manufacturer, Arconic, “the principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up the building” was its aluminium composite panels and the “melting and dripping of burning polyethylene”.

Firefighters braced for criticism in Grenfell inquiry report

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Admin

Much anticipated account of fire teams’ actions due in parliament on Wednesday

Firefighters are bracing for strong criticism of their response to the Grenfell Tower fire this week when the public inquiry into the disaster finally publishes its account of the 14 June 2017 blaze which claimed 72 lives.

Firefighters of different ranks who attended the incident have been warned they are facing criticism with the commissioner of the London Fire Brigade (LFB), Dany Cotton, expected to be among a handful of senior officers singled out in the 1,000-page report due to be laid before parliament on Wednesday.

Grenfell survivors’ anger as police say no charges until 2021

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Admin

‘Extremely frustrating and disheartening’: investigation held up by public inquiry

Survivors and the bereaved from the Grenfell Tower fire have expressed their “extreme frustration” at the pace of justice after Scotland Yard admitted no charges were likely for at least two years.

Detectives investigating the possibility of manslaughter and corporate manslaughter offences said their investigation must take into account the public inquiry into the disaster, the second phase of which will not start until the end of this year. Inquiry lawyers have been swamped with 476,000 separate documents.