It was five years ago this morning that Londoners awoke to news of the worst residential fire in Britain since the Second World War.
In the early hours of June 14, 2017, a fire broke out in a fourth-floor kitchen in Grenfell Tower, north Kensington. The flames raced around the exterior of the building along the very cladding that should have protected the building’s residents.
A fire should have been confined to one flat, allowing the Fire Brigade plenty of time to bring it under control. But as we know, Grenfell possessed neither the appropriate cladding nor safety doors. Consequently, and tragically, residents became trapped amid scorching flames and toxic black smoke. A total of 72 people died that day. Many too were injured.
The fight for justice is still ongoing. Five years on, no one has been convicted — though the final inquiry is yet to report.
The then-London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton resigned in the months following the publication of the investigation into the events of that evening. But survivors of the tragedy will understandably not feel a sense of justice unless those responsible are finally held accountable.
The fight for change is also yet to be secured, not only in regulations but attitudes. It is vital that tenants’ concerns are listened to, with formal lines of communication with landlords in place.
People living in any housing — social and private rent included — must be heard, not ignored. Such a tragedy must never happen again.
Today, on this desperately sad anniversary, we echo the thoughts of the Rt Rev Dr Graham Tomlin, the Bishop of Kensington, that “the word ‘Grenfell’ may one day soon come to stand for a time that we truly learnt to bear each other’s burdens, to value the precious gift of human life, to make our homes truly safe and to trust in the unfailing love that will not let us go.”
