Horrific Fire Engulfs London Apartment Tower

[Rum]

Mrs May has heeded residents' and campaigners' calls and initiated a public inquiry - which is actually quite a big thing for the Landlord party to do.

A cynic person might predict that the inquiry will exonerate the landlord and find the caretaker to blame.

There isn't a 'landlord'. There are multiple leaseholders of the flats. a tenants associated and also Kensington LA has some responsibilities - including some infrastructure. They also buy in inspection and maintenance services. . It is a morass of responsibilities and actually and untangling them is going to be fun - if that is the right word.

[Scot Dutchy]

Blame the tenants. I'd suggest fabricating a story that the apartment where the fire started was in fact a Meth lab.

Look anything is possible. There was obviously no supervision. I wonder if the rent was ever collected? How many families can fit into a four bedroom flat? There were refugees and lowest end of society. It was a dumping ground.

[laklak]

Blame the tenants. I'd suggest fabricating a story that the apartment where the fire started was in fact a Meth lab.

Run by illegal asylum seeking gay commie Nazi Muzzie terrorists!

[Hermit]

Mrs May has heeded residents' and campaigners' calls and initiated a public inquiry - which is actually quite a big thing for the Landlord party to do.

A cynic person might predict that the inquiry will exonerate the landlord and find the caretaker to blame.

There isn't a 'landlord'. There are multiple leaseholders of the flats. a tenants associated and also Kensington LA has some responsibilities - including some infrastructure. They also buy in inspection and maintenance services. . It is a morass of responsibilities and actually and untangling them is going to be fun - if that is the right word.

Yes, there is a landlord. It's the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and that is where the buck stops, even if the body it has created to manage the building (among many others), the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, has been shown to have acted negligently. There is plenty of evidence that the KCTMO has acted negligently, and that it did so in collusion with its boss, the RBKC. Check the Grenfell Action Group's website, for instance. Culpability will not be all that difficult to ascertain. In addition to its public record, the GAG will have plenty of documentation to work it out.

[Scot Dutchy]

And what does the BBC talk about? The victims well just one and have his brother crying on the tellie. Well done Beeb nothing else is important.

[Strontium Dog]

The building as was had very good protection against fire, so much so that a fire in one apartment would not spread so long as doors were closed.

Unfortunately the new cladding totally negated all the fireproofing, turning the entire edifice into a giant death trap.

[Brian Peacock]

And what does the BBC talk about? The victims well just one and have his brother crying on the tellie. Well done Beeb nothing else is important.

Give it a day it two.

[Brian Peacock]

Experts warned government against cladding material used on Grenfell

The government’s building safety experts warned last year that the drive for greater energy efficiency meant more and more buildings are being wrapped in materials that could go up in flames.

In a report compiled before the Grenfell Tower disaster on Wednesday, the Building Research Establishment, which works for the Department of Communities and Local Government on fire investigations, said attempts to innovate with insulation were leading to an “increase in the volume of potentially combustible materials being applied” to buildings...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... _clipboard

[Tyrannical]

The dangers of asbestos I think are highly over rated......

I hear they are blaming an electrical problem with a refrigerator. I'm curious how they came to that conclusion so soon

[JimC]

The dangers of asbestos I think are highly over rated......

Which shows you have zero scientific knowledge about a highly dangerous material that has killed many people in Oz by a very unpleasant lung disease.

There are modern, low flammability alternatives such as rock wool available, although they are probably more expensive...

[Rum]

Mrs May has heeded residents' and campaigners' calls and initiated a public inquiry - which is actually quite a big thing for the Landlord party to do.

A cynic person might predict that the inquiry will exonerate the landlord and find the caretaker to blame.

There isn't a 'landlord'. There are multiple leaseholders of the flats. a tenants associated and also Kensington LA has some responsibilities - including some infrastructure. They also buy in inspection and maintenance services. . It is a morass of responsibilities and actually and untangling them is going to be fun - if that is the right word.

Yes, there is a landlord. It's the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and that is where the buck stops, even if the body it has created to manage the building (among many others), the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, has been shown to have acted negligently. There is plenty of evidence that the KCTMO has acted negligently, and that it did so in collusion with its boss, the RBKC. Check the Grenfell Action Group's website, for instance. Culpability will not be all that difficult to ascertain. In addition to its public record, the GAG will have plenty of documentation to work it out.

I really don't understand - well I do for local people who are affected and those who think with their emotions - the need for instant justice and I assume retribution. It may be the cladding. It may be budget cuts. It may be a poor regulatory regime. It may be Kensington local authority. It may be inspectors not being thorough and numerous other possibilities. Arguably you can blame central government who have slashed local authority budgets by up to a third in the last six years.

Let's find someone to blame and hang them NOW seems to be to not be a very intelligent response, even as I said, it is understandable coming from some quarters.

[Hermit]

Mrs May has heeded residents' and campaigners' calls and initiated a public inquiry - which is actually quite a big thing for the Landlord party to do.

A cynic person might predict that the inquiry will exonerate the landlord and find the caretaker to blame.

There isn't a 'landlord'. There are multiple leaseholders of the flats. a tenants associated and also Kensington LA has some responsibilities - including some infrastructure. They also buy in inspection and maintenance services. . It is a morass of responsibilities and actually and untangling them is going to be fun - if that is the right word.

Yes, there is a landlord. It's the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and that is where the buck stops, even if the body it has created to manage the building (among many others), the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, has been shown to have acted negligently. There is plenty of evidence that the KCTMO has acted negligently, and that it did so in collusion with its boss, the RBKC. Check the Grenfell Action Group's website, for instance. Culpability will not be all that difficult to ascertain. In addition to its public record, the GAG will have plenty of documentation to work it out.

I really don't understand - well I do for local people who are affected and those who think with their emotions - the need for instant justice and I assume retribution. It may be the cladding. It may be budget cuts. It may be a poor regulatory regime. It may be Kensington local authority. It may be inspectors not being thorough and numerous other possibilities. Arguably you can blame central government who have slashed local authority budgets by up to a third in the last six years.

Let's find someone to blame and hang them NOW seems to be to not be a very intelligent response, even as I said, it is understandable coming from some quarters.

Initially I was only trying to correct your misapprehension about there being no landlord, but now that you say finding out who or what is to blame is not a very intelligent response, I may as well follow that up too. Generally speaking, if you don't find someone or something to blame you are unlikely prevent recurrences of whatever went wrong. In this particular case, for instance, at least part of the blame is a criminally lackadaisical approach to maintenance. Another part seems to be the material used for recladding the building's exterior, and that in turn may point the finger - as Monbiot does - at past (and current) policies of deregulation. His article about Grenfell Tower and deregulation is well worth reading.

[cronus]

Might be in a minority here but I blame immigration. If this was a fully British tower block no way would the locals have stood for that unnecessary gaudy outer wrapping....doesn't go with the typical weather here for starters

[Brian Peacock]

I think that emotion is quite understandable. This horrific incident points to how corner cutting, laziness, double standards, systematic landlord bias, and conspicuous profiteering seem to be endemic in the UK housing system.

... Grenfell Tower’s action group rightly regarded their social landlord and their local council as being in “sordid collusion” with each other to disregard the needs of tens of thousands of residents, in the knowledge that the only power the latter had was their collective anger – whereas their landlord could rely on the borough for political and legal clout. This power imbalance was amplified by the fact that residents could no longer seek legal aid since extensive cuts were made to the service...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... _clipboard

[Hermit]

Might be in a minority here but I blame immigration. If this was a fully British tower block no way would the locals have stood for that unnecessary gaudy outer wrapping....doesn't go with the typical weather here for starters

I blame the more affluent Anglos living in the neighbourhood, who insisted on the building's makeover because they were the ones who were exposed to its looks when playing badminton in their gardens.