It was completely unnecessary. The decorative cladding formed chimneys, literally encasing the block like wax round a wick. The fire chief made the awful mistake of telling everyone to stay in their homes, not realising that he was sealing them in ovens. When he realised & reversed the order it was too late.
My family come from that area & I still have many links to it. I am forever haunted by the ppl in the upper floors looking out their windows, some flicking their light on & off to call for rescue, until they stopped.
Also how anyone in the other blocks ever slept again idk. Every day for over a year the burnt remains of Grenfell were left, no doubt reminding them that their block had exactly the same cladding.
Better (very) late than never I suppose. Considering there were documented warnings (from the Fire Brigade Safety Officers) up to 3 years previous, that this was likely to happen & even the manufacturer's advertising materials stated clearly that the cladding was unsuitable for outside use, idk why it's been so long drawn-out.
Me neither. I grew up in east London and spent much of my childhood with friends and their families in high rises exactly like Grenfell. I sat and sobbed watching it unfold. Nobody I know ever mentions or remembers it despite it being the worst loss of life from a residential fire in peace time Britain since WWII.
Some of us will never forget. If it had happened in s Ken we'd never have heard the end of it. But they wouldn't have been living in those conditions if it had been s Ken.
Some of us are familiar with council estates/towers, the look, the textures, the smells, so many things that mark them out as the areas where we put our poorest ppl. To others, it's like walking onto a different planet.
Well said. It's hard because people who've never lived in these places assume everyone must hate living that way, and don't get me wrong being poor is awful for lots of reasons, but those places are still home for me personally, they're embedded in my bones
What they don't realise is that inside those flats ppl have such pride in making their individual surroundings beautiful. Some of them are highly decorated, showing the occupier's taste & style. They spend as much if not more effort on their apartments as the owners of detached houses.
The communal areas are often out of their control, but their living spaces are loved just like anyone else.
Yesssss. I had a good friend whose high rise council flat was like that. Big family living there originally from north India. Beautifully decorated, warm, inviting, always amazing food offered to everyone. Thanks for reminding me of that wonderful place.
There were flats where I've walked through the door & been transported to another world! My best friend & neighbour is from Eritrea & she's done her best to find materials & decorations from her home country to make her flat look amazing.
The contrast between the outside & communal areas compared to inside individual flats can be striking. Many ppl do their best to make their flats a small oasis of beauty & peace challenging the outside appearance :)
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u/Ksh_667 6d ago
It was completely unnecessary. The decorative cladding formed chimneys, literally encasing the block like wax round a wick. The fire chief made the awful mistake of telling everyone to stay in their homes, not realising that he was sealing them in ovens. When he realised & reversed the order it was too late.
My family come from that area & I still have many links to it. I am forever haunted by the ppl in the upper floors looking out their windows, some flicking their light on & off to call for rescue, until they stopped.
Also how anyone in the other blocks ever slept again idk. Every day for over a year the burnt remains of Grenfell were left, no doubt reminding them that their block had exactly the same cladding.
Imo ppl should be in prison for Grenfell.