The insulation included in the refurbishment was said to be polystyrene! Crap, how cheap and flammable.
The cladding was some kind of aluminium composite that burns and melts at 400 to 700 degrees (?Fahrenheit ?Celcisus). Either way fires can get far, far hotter than that. The cladding was laid over the original fluted concrete thereby creating a chimney effect enabling the rapid spread of the fire.
What an absolutely preventable tragedy in a 'trap' housing 600 to 800 people (Telegraph; BBC said something like 500).
No fire alarms were heard by those who managed to get out.
Was there a (functioning) sprinkler system? Would have thought that would be compulsory.
In an age where high rise housing is becoming the only choice for more and more people it is hard to believe that the fire regulations haven't kept up with expectations. It seems that the recent refurbishment of this building was carried out by imbeciles and cheapskates. The building was owned by the council, I believe. All responsible people must be called to account and hopefully find their way into prison having failed so abysmally in their duty of care. Of course this won't happen as everything is said to have passed the fire and safety regulations for buildings. Is this a new form of Slum Clearance?
"The London tower devastated by a vicious building fire may have been installed with flammable cladding during a recent renovation.
Online records indicate contractor Harley Facades Limited installed "over-cladding with ACM cassette rainscreen" at Grenfell Tower.
ACM stands for aluminium composite material, which is the same combustible product blamed for fuelling nearly a dozen major high-rise fires globally in the past decade, including in Melbourne in 2014.
"The tower was recently refurbished with improvements including rainscreen cladding, with Rydon Construction saying on its website that the aim was ‘improving thermal insulation and modernising the exterior of the building.’
