London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – London’s Grenfell Tower residents were advised to “stay put for too long” during the blaze which claimed the lives of 72 people, the London Fire Brigade’s chief has stated.
What Prompted the Withdrawal of the “Stay Put” Advice at Grenfell?
Andy Roe, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) Commissioner, who withdrew the formal advice within minutes of taking command at the scene on June 14, 2017, expressed the policy “would have influenced people’s decision-making”.
Why Did Grenfell’s Fire Compartmentalisation Fail?
The policy depended on the effective compartmentalisation of fire, which did not transpire at Grenfell due to combustible cladding and insulation on the 19-storey tower. The public inquiry’s first stage script has already discovered that “many more lives” would likely have been protected if incident commanders had told residents to vacate instead of staying put an hour earlier.
What Prompted the Withdrawal of the “Stay Put” Advice at Grenfell?
Mr Roe expressed his disbelief at seeing three sides of the tower alight when he arrived at the scene at 2.30 am. “It was a shock – people were screaming,” Mr Roe said. I could look into the building and see that fire was a long way inside it. People hanging from windows. Unbelievable…people on the ground as well. was in my fire brigade uniform, so people were stopping me and saying, ‘What’s happening? My mum’s in there, my brothers and sisters are in there.”
Then an Assistant Commissioner, Mr Roe took over as happening commander at 2.47 am – nearly two hours after the foremost emergency call – and withdrew the stay-put advice. This suggested anyone then called 999 was told to get out of the building.
“What I must say, out of respect to the families, is that people were instructed to stay put for too long,” Mr Roe said. He expressed revoking the advice had been “an easy decision to take” because of the harshness of the blaze, but that it would have been more challenging to make earlier in the night, due to the dangers of evacuating people through smoke-logged stairwells.
When Will the Final Grenfell Inquiry Report Be Released?
The final assertion of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will be publicised in September. The final hearing of the second phase of the investigation, which explored how the tower block came to be in a condition that permitted the fire to spread, took place in November 2022.
The report into phase one, which concentrated on the factual chronology of the events on the night of the blaze, was issued in October 2019. It found the tower’s cladding did not concede with building regulations and was the “principal” reason for the rapid and “profoundly shocking” spread of the fire. The Met Police has separately stated that it does not expect any charges to be brought until 2026 at the earliest.