Fire at Grenfell Tower in London

That's rough, Calzino, sorry.

Yes since at least 91 when I started. Xp re decanting

Before that, when my granny's house was getting done up, she was 'decanted' for a few months - that was the 80s, possibly the 70s.

(xp) I know someone who is stuck in this shitty process too, calz, it's fucking disgraceful.

Tell your friend to get a decent advocate if they can, the one my partner got was ineffective, rude and totally callous. When you have just gone through a very dehumanising process and they coldly say: "you've lost, your taxi will be here in 5 minutes, so set off now" it isn't good.

Sorry for bringing this to this thread, it is quite trivial in comparison to 100's burning to death in their homes needlessly.

Sorry to hear Calzino. We should really gulag these Tories.

Compilation of stories of the night here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/grenfell_voices was pretty hard to read

just finished reading it from top to bottom, am badly shaken. as a piece of publishing, that was extremely well done, though.

Devastating.

Great piece

Great disturbing and upsetting piece of writing. I'm glad I read it.

Dawn Foster continuing to quote from council meetings and residents thoughts (mostly anger at the authority of course) on Twitter for hours at a time.

https://architectsforsocialhousing.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/the-truth-about-grenfell-tower-a-report-by-architects-for-social-housing/

V big post-Grenfell news – residents of 242 flats in 4 blocks in SE London to be moved out after survey found buildings hugely unsafe

— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) August 10, 2017

Again, they need to be re-housed in the exact same areas. Labour need to be on it.

Just watched Steve Richards of the Guardian, on BBC's Dateline programme, comparing Trump's response to the hurricanes to May's response to Grenfell Tower, only to be interrupted by the BBC presenter who felt the need to explain to viewers and fellow guests what Grenfell Tower was. Forgotten already down at the BBC obviously.

Dateline is shown on their BBC world news channel, so maybe they gave an explanation for people outside the UK?

That is a possibility.

Saved by an air pocket - this is the story of the only people to escape the top floor of Grenfell Tower. pic.twitter.com/Wx90prH4B4

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) September 13, 2017

I have been noticing a lot of hate-speak and general apologist obfuscation becoming more more prevalent recently. Well tbf Nick Robinson was doing it on the BBC, literally while the corpses were still burning in Grenfell. And that prick on the start of this thread that was stating (in a bullshit authoritative manner) that sprinklers wouldn't have made a difference, offering this highly intelligent analysis, roughly 10 hours into the disaster. Yet now there is talk that all high rise social housing urgently need sprinkler systems installing, and only 2% actually have them. Well, why waste the money on these things if they don't make any difference? Everyone knows water has absolutely no discernible effect on fire of course.

This was pretty well done:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Grenfell_21st_floor

Also want to note this development: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/19/grenfell-tower-inquiry-may-consider-individual-manslaughter-charges

Met police commander Stuart Cundy said he had met survivors and relatives of the dead on Monday night and told them he believed the final death toll might be slightly lower than the 80 people previously posited.

He said 60 people had been formally identified and CCTV showed 240 people had left the tower between midnight and 8am on the night of the fire. He added that cases of fraud coming to light, including people reported missing turning out to be fictitious, could be one factor leading to the final death toll being slightly lower.

Nevertheless, he said, there could still be people with no social or family connection outside the tower, and not on any official lists, who could still be within the high-rise. He declined to say by how many the death count could fall.

I always thought the numbers would be much higher, if anything. Considering the size of the building and the early a.m. time of the fire. And talk that significant numbers of the residents might not have been officially living there. I'm not saying it is wrong - because I'm not privy to any facts here - but my gut feeling is that it is more lying Met police bollocks, and they do have a long history of lying.

Grenfell Tower victim ordered to pay £100 compensation to dep leader of Kensington & Chelsea council after threatening him at 100-day vigil

— Tristan Kirk (@kirkkorner) October 6, 2017

The defendant in question, who lost a close relative in the fire, will be paying the compensation at £5 a week from his benefits

— Tristan Kirk (@kirkkorner) October 6, 2017

whut

There were recent reports that many survivors are still living in temp accommodation and eating from food banks, so that £20m that was raised is really making a difference. Go fucking charities!

More council violence:

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-10-16/no-place-of-safety

The Kensington & Chelsea brigade are properly monstrous pic.twitter.com/KFdQyV8EHa

— James Rhodes (@JRhodesPianist) October 23, 2017

Rich wankers are rich and wankers.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DOgnIBVW4AANvwD.jpg

I got a similar type of loathsome questonaire from my LA recently, asking me which disabled services I gaf about the least. Like for example which disabled children age groups deserve the least help (0-4 years old, 4-8 years old and so on).

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/08/grenfell-tower-more-costly-fire-resistant-cladding-plan-was-dropped?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

But a few months later the council decided Leadbitter wanted to spend too much on the refurbishment and put the contract out to tender to save £1.3m. It selected Rydon, which provided a lower price but fitted the building with combustible cladding which caught fire on 14 June 2017”.

A film shown about the Choucair (family) has caused considerable distress in the inquiry room.

It showed distressing images of people trapped in the building as it burned and around 20 people have got up and left the room, some breaking down in tears and wailing.

Outside in the foyer one person is having what appears to be a panic attack and is being assisted by one of the counsellors and several other people.

The counsel to the inquiry has described is as “a medical emergency”. The counsel to the inquiry has had to stop the film as a result of this. Even as someone not directly affected by the fire the images were shocking, so survivors’ reaction are completely understandable.

The counsel to the inquiry, Bernard Richmond, had said he would warn people if images of fire or the building were about to be shown but has admitted that he forgot.

Paramedics are now here treating the woman who collapsed and she seems to have gathered her composure and is being counselled in an anteroom.

It felt very quickly that the content of the film was too much for some people and there were pockets of commotion around the auditorium as people decided whether to leave or not.

But the film was allowed to run on for a couple of minutes more. This feels like a difficult moment for the inquiry so early on. Emotions are still incredibly raw and there will be more distressing testimony to come in the weeks and months ahead. How that is handled is now sure to be reviewed by the inquiry team.

The counsel to the inquiry, Bernard Richmond, had said he would warn people if images of fire or the building were about to be shown but has admitted that he forgot.

do better you fucking goon

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/08/grenfell-inquiry-mayor-calls-for-move-to-venue-nearer-tower

Posted mainly for the picture. I've been watching them slowly put this up, the white covering, and it does a good job of hiding the thing against the sky. But it sort of feels like they are covering it up. And the billboard at the top feels like lip service.

(I think there's a service planned and maybe covering it up like this might allow people to attend who might not if it was still just a charred stump)

Lots of luxury flats going up in the area too (TVC conversion, the huge university tower...) And other building work (Westfield extension...) They must all overlook Grenfell.

Was wondering why it had taken them so long to cover it - feels like something that should've happened well over six months ago.

This is an official response & complaint against Andrew O’Hagan’s article ‘The Tower’. Please read below and share widely. This has been written by Melanie Coles and fully supported by me, a bereaved family member and the #Grenfell community #thetower #article #grenfelltower pic.twitter.com/TeO8nZ6iya

— Noha Maher (@inohauk) June 3, 2018

There's currently a very serious fire going on on a new build estate in Barking. The buildings are clad in wood, which the developer has been telling residents was fire resistant.

jesus, is it a tower block construction?

Looks about six floors high from what I can see.

https://news.sky.com/story/100-firefighters-tackle-six-floor-fire-at-flats-in-barking-east-london-11738455

Wooden balconies by the looks of things.

that balcony material looking extremely flammable from the pic.

just heard a witness on the radio say something about no alarms going off.

the developer has been telling residents was fire resistant

I imagine 'fire resistant' in wood is much like my experience of 'water resistant' in clothing; it may resist a very brief exposure, or else a longer, but minimal exposure, but beyond that it soaks through. iow, it is a worthless marketing term, meant to suggest far more than it says.

I once worked on a new build childrens hospice that was mostly made out of wood, with some steel cladding and breeze. I kept commenting to colleagues that you wouldn't fancy the structures chances in a fire, but it was fire resistant wood blah blah someone said .. Part of it burned to the ground only a few years after it opened. I was mortified when it was reported an electrical fault was the cause.. but then it turned out to be a fault on on the high voltage supply side of the plant room, which we was nothing to do with thankfully.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/pms-chief-of-staff-did-not-act-on-multiple-warnings-about-fire-safety-in-months-before-grenfell-new-letters-show-61883

heads will roll ... by about 2040 when most of the criminally negligent bodies are already half dead.

Saw the tweet with that story when I woke up - have other places picked up on this?

Grenfell report to be released..... 30 October.

hollow lol