London tower fire

The people are angry and have demanded answers from the government of Theresa May after a fire outbreak at the Grenfell Tower killed 79 people, though many residents of the building have claimed that there are many more bodies unaccounted for.

In a leaked letter that has now been seen by reputable news organisation, experts have recommended ways to the government after a fatal fire in Lakanal House in south London in 2009 that killed 6 people, the recommendations are what the government can do to keep people safe from a fire outbreak as such, especially people in towers.

                

In 2013, the government promised to review the fire and safety regulation, but it never did happen.

More than dozens of letters were obtained that experts wrote that that the government should not wait for another tragedy. 

The former chief fire officer, Ronnie King said that the UK government has ignored repeated warnings about the fire outbreak in towers, Mr King said;

We have spent four years saying 'Listen, we have got the evidence, we've provided you with the evidence, there is clear public opinion towards this, you ought to move on this.

Four ministers all from the Department for Communities and Local Government ignored all the warnings and did not strengthen regulations that could help with protecting citizens from fire outbreaks. 

The Parliamentary group again in 2014 give it a try by writing;

Surely… when you already have credible evidence to justify updating… the guidance… which will lead to saving of lives, you don't need to wait another three years in addition to the two already spent since the research findings were updated, in order to take action?

As there are estimated to be another 4,000 older tower blocks in the UK, without automatic sprinkler protection, can we really afford to wait for another tragedy to occur before we amend this weakness?

One of the government officials that ignore warnings of this threat is Liberal Democrat MP Steven Williams, who was a minister in the department when one of the letters came in, and he replied;

I have neither seen nor heard anything that would suggest that consideration of these specific potential changes is urgent and I am not willing to disrupt the work of this department by asking that these matters are brought forward.

The group then responded, and say they;

We re at a loss to understand, how you had concluded that credible and independent evidence, which had life safety implications, was NOT considered to be urgent.

As a consequence the group wishes to point out to you that should a major fire tragedy, with loss of life, occur between now and 2017 in, for example, a residential care facility or a purpose built block of flats, where the matters which had been raised here, were found to be contributory to the outcome, then the group would be bound to bring this to others' attention.

Another letter was also sent to the then Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles. The letter was also sent by the parliamentary group about fire regulations in 2014. 

Secretary Eric Pickles in February 2013 and March 2013 have been asked to look  into fire safety by two separate coroner's investigation another two tower fire.

2015

The All-party group in 2015 wrote to Conservative MP James Wharton, who was also another minister in the department at the time, and he was told about the risks of fire spreading to the outside of  buildings with claddings.

Today's buildings have a much higher content of readily available combustible material. Examples are timber and polystyrene mixes in structure, cladding and insulation. This fire hazard results in many fires because adequate recommendations to developers simply do not exist. There is little or no requirement to mitigate external fire spread.

2016

In September 2016, Gavin Barwell, now Theresa May top aide received a letter from the parliamentary group, and unlike the others, Barwell replied the letter and said that the department will make a statement in "due course."

The response from Mr Barwell seems not have happen in due course, causing the death of more than 79 people, and more of this could still happen in the UK if the government, and departments continue to play the "I don't care" music.

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79 people have now been confirmed dead, missing or presumed dead in the fire outbreak at the Grenfell Tower fire. The number of casualties are expected to increase as police continue investigation of the fire outbreak.

                      

The announcement was made shortly after the 11am minute silence for the victims of the outbreak. Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said that five people have been identified, but the others that were missing all this while are presumed dead.

Ms Cundy said that it has been "incredibly emotional" working inside the burnt tower. Ms Cundy said;

It is incredibly emotional working in there, but we will do it with our utmost professionalism, and we will do everything we can as quickly as we can to locate and recover everybody who is in there. Today I know there are 79 people who are either confirmed dead and have been identified, or are missing and sadly I have to presume are dead. I do think there will be some change to that number.

The work we are doing is about trying to find those people to see if they are safe and well. Thankfully, over the last few days, we have identified five people who people believed were missing, are safe and well.

      

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A fridge explosion around 1am has caused the death of dozen of people living in 27-storey west London tower block in just 15 minutes. The explosion ripped through the building quickly that people were forced to throw themselves and their children from the window for the fear of burning to death.

                         

According to the occupants of the building who were lucky to escape, the building has no fire alarm, the sprinklers failed and the only staircase that could serve as escape route was blocked.

A baby was thrown out of the building 10th floor and was picked up by a member of the public, and the baby only had only broken bone and bruises.

                        

Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, Dany Cotton said that there have been a number of fatalities, while the London Ambulance services said that more than 50 people are in hospital receiving treatment, and many more are currently being treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

A lot of residents who escaped the building can be seen crying as a large number of people are currently unaccounted for, and some are using social media to find their loved ones.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is asking why the residents of Grenfell were asked to stay put in the building during the fire incident, after many residents warned that many people might die. He has also said that the incident begs for many questions such as the safety of the tower blocks in the capital.

According to a survivor that broke down on live TV, his neighbour had told him that his fridge exploded, and fire swamped the building. 

While the fire was raging, people could be seen with torchlights to call for help, and others could be seen tying bedding their bedsheet together to use as a rope to get away from the building.

                      

The fire was reported to have spread from the second floor of the building to the top floor in less than 15minutes, and survivors said they were awoken because of loud screaming and also said they there was a strong smell of plastic burning that woke them up.

According to Local resident Tamara, who spoke with BBC new, she said;

Around 12.30/1am my mum called me and said there was a fire outside. By the time I got there the whole right side of the building was on fire, the whole thing was engulfed in flames.

We could hear people screaming 'Help me' so me and my brother, with some other people who live in the area, ran over to the estate to where you could still get underneath it and there were people just throwing their kids out saying 'Save my children.

The fire crew, ambulance and police couldn't do anything, they couldn't get in, and they were just telling them to stay where they are, and we'll come and get you. But things quickly escalated beyond measure and they couldn't go back in and get them.

Within another 15 minutes the whole thing was up in flames and there were still people at their windows shouting 'Help me'. You could see the fire going into their houses and engulfing the last room that they were in.

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