We used to get bored with fire drills. Not now..
As the police search for the remains of at least 79 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Worcester firm that fabricated the rainscreen panels and windows released a statement.
John Cowley, MD of CEP Architectural Facades which is owned by Worcester-based Omnis Exteriors, said it made the panels and windows for Grenfell Tower’s cladding sub-contractor, for the £8.6 million refurbishment of the 24-storey London tower in 2015.
But it stresses CEP did not make Reynobond, the cladding material specified by the design team - but said it is wrong to point to individual materials or components anyway.
Instead, the firm says authorities should focus attention on the design of the building’s entire exterior refurbishment, rather than individual components. Mr Cowley said: “It is critical to consider the whole system including insulation materials, fire barriers, fixings and railings and you also need to look at the overall design and quality of installation.
“We prefer systems which have been designed and tested in controlled conditions so that we know they are robust and fit for purpose. In the US you can’t build a structure taller than 40 feet without testing the whole system in a fully rigged environment.”
It has been reported the cladding used on the building had a polyethylene - or plastic - core, instead of a more fireproof alternative. Back in November 2016 a blog post from Grenfell Action Group in November said “only a catastrophic event” would expose concerns residents had about the tower.
A few days later the former MD of the Fire Protection Association, Jonathan O’Neill, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honour’s list. He has campaigned and worked towards better fire safety for more than 20 years.
Mr O’Neill pointed to the recent ArrowXL warehouse fire in Worcester as evidence the UK is currently “massively behind” on fire safety in comparison with the rest of the world. “Every warehouse in Europe has sprinklers,” Mr O’Neill said. “Believe it or not they were invented here. Sprinklers at Grenfell Tower would have saved lives. When I travel the world, people are amazed they are not used.”
It exposed the folly of putting elderly and infirm residents in the top floors of tower blocks. The first immediate, and neglected, aspect of the tragedy is the apparent lack of any fire drill or evacuation. With around 4,000 tower blocks in the UK – it might be a start.