It was a simple kitchen fire. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, chair of the Grenfell inquiry, repeats this small but devastating finding throughout his phase one report: a simple kitchen fire that killed 72 people, and for ever changed a community.
My uncle was one of the people who died in Grenfell Tower. Reading the inquiry report has been difficult. It is so detailed. It recounts all the movements my uncle made that night – the phone calls he made for help, the times he was told to stay put. He was so polite in the phone calls, trusting that help was on its way. Every time I read it, I pick up something new and it hurts even more. I imagine everybody who lost someone that night feels similar. These are our loved ones’ last moments, retold minute by minute.
But reading the report and understanding what it says have brought some comfort too. Moore-Bick’s report is strong. It is fair and it calls for change. We hoped it would, but I didn’t dare believe it.
The biggest finding is that Grenfell Tower was not compliant with building regulations. Moore-Bick is clear on this. He couldn’t be clearer. The refurbishment of Grenfell Tower turned it into a death trap. This finding means that the council and tenant management organisation have serious questions to answer in phase two of the inquiry, as do each of the corporations involved in the refurbishment – Arconic, Celotex and Studio E among others.
I am so frustrated that, more than two years on from the fire, companies who manufactured and sold such dangerous materials have not yet been held to account. Moore-Bick sets out in his report how the cladding contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. So far, many companies have barely been questioned about their involvement. In phase two of the inquiry they will have to answer questions.
The first phase of the report covers what happened on the night of the fire itself, so we always knew the focus would be the London fire brigade. It is not true to say the report blames frontline firefighters for the fire’s devastation. It does not. It mainly focuses on leadership and management.
Moore-Bick tells us what so many people already knew: that more lives could have been saved that night if the building had been evacuated earlier. Seventy-seven people made it down the stairs to safety. Even late into the fire, escape was possible.
If only the fire service had been trained to evacuate a high-rise. Moore-Bick finds that the leadership should have done this training, and that there were enough lessons from other fires around the world and in the UK.
I was in the room when the London fire commissioner, Dany Cotton, gave evidence in front of many of us. She said that even with the benefit of hindsight she would not change anything about that night. It was so disrespectful. Despite the bravery of the frontline fighters, there are lessons that London fire brigade leaders should acknowledge, and changes that can be made to make sure they are prepared for high-rise fires.
There are important recommendations in the report: calls for a national evacuation policy, for new equipment and training for firefighters, and renewed calls for the government to urgently take dangerous materials off high-rises.
There is one recommendation close to my heart. My uncle had mobility issues, and would have needed help getting down the stairs, as would a number of other residents; but 999 call-centre staff are not trained to ask people if they have a disability. Moore-Bick recommends that they should be. It is one recommendation in a long list, but if it happens I know that my uncle will have contributed to a change that may just save someone else’s life. And what is this all about, if not that?
Seventy-two people died as a result of the fire that night, and their deaths have to mean something. We need to see changes, large and small, so that as we grieve there can be some comfort that their deaths were not in vain. I find it hard to believe we will get justice. But if this report is taken seriously, I can start to have some faith that change will come.