London Tower Fire: Part 1

:00:00. > :00:00.temperatures rise once again, turning warmer, with parts of

:00:00. > :00:00.south-east England by Sunday near 30 Celsius. That is the latest

:00:00. > :00:11.forecast, back to you. Thank you very much. Before we end

:00:12. > :00:15.the programme, let's go to one of the community centres that has been

:00:16. > :00:16.opened to help people who have lived here and lost everything, lost their

:00:17. > :00:25.homes. Lucy Manning is there. What is so

:00:26. > :00:31.striking is that there still seem to be so many people, missing so many

:00:32. > :00:35.people being searched for? Unfortunately, that is right. You

:00:36. > :00:38.walk around the streets here today and it goes without saying that

:00:39. > :00:43.there is a real sense of grief. Everybody is talking about who they

:00:44. > :00:48.know that was in the block and where they might be now. Frankly, not

:00:49. > :00:53.everybody is accounted for and they expect that there will be more

:00:54. > :00:56.deaths. I have spent most of the afternoon and all morning in the

:00:57. > :01:01.community centre behind me, in the basement in the hall, tables are set

:01:02. > :01:05.out. Families at each table. Some of the families are telling me they

:01:06. > :01:08.felt very lucky. They have lost everything, their homes, all of

:01:09. > :01:13.their possessions, but they had at least made it out alive. On other

:01:14. > :01:16.tables, families more quiet, on phones, trying to speak to relatives

:01:17. > :01:22.that they had sent around the hospital is looking for other

:01:23. > :01:28.relatives. We kept popping back and saying, any news? There was a sad

:01:29. > :01:31.shake of the head. They just want information. Unfortunately, that is

:01:32. > :01:35.the one thing that there isn't at the moment. Along with the grief and

:01:36. > :01:39.sadness, there is also anger. Speaking to some of the residents,

:01:40. > :01:43.they are some of the same people that raised concerns, as they think,

:01:44. > :01:50.about the safety in the tower block. The residents are angry that nothing

:01:51. > :01:55.was done and a fire happened, that this has happened to them. Also, a

:01:56. > :01:58.real sense of community here. People are helping out. There has been an

:01:59. > :02:05.amazing response at the community centre. People here, I think, it has

:02:06. > :02:11.been a very, very difficult day for them. People on the street want

:02:12. > :02:15.answers. It is the one thing that can't be given to them. I think it

:02:16. > :02:20.is true, very unfortunately, that some of the people that are missing,

:02:21. > :02:23.perhaps many of them, the death toll is going to rise and we will not

:02:24. > :02:29.have any good answers for them at all. Lucy Manning, thank you. What

:02:30. > :02:34.we know now is that at least 12 people have died. Dozens have been

:02:35. > :02:43.injured. The death toll, we are being told, is expected to rise. We

:02:44. > :02:58.will have an -- continuing coverage throughout the afternoon.

:02:59. > :03:06.block which you can see smoke is still coming from the building on

:03:07. > :03:10.the 15th floor. You can see flames depending on when the wind turns

:03:11. > :03:14.this way, flames and letting the side of the building, which is why

:03:15. > :03:21.we've been told to wear these facemasks, because there is debris,

:03:22. > :03:24.cert and dirt on the air. Their rockets flying around, this is

:03:25. > :03:31.directly from the building itself. These are on the streets. They have

:03:32. > :03:39.taken days -- it will take days to clear up. A bird's eye view of the

:03:40. > :03:44.building, this level of devastation has been caused, the fire began at

:03:45. > :03:48.1am this morning, and it has claimed lives. Currently 12 lives is the

:03:49. > :03:53.official total, but the Metropolitan Police tell us that number is likely

:03:54. > :03:56.to go up. Reporters have been on the ground and around the area all day

:03:57. > :03:59.from early this morning. We will be hearing from them later in the

:04:00. > :04:05.programme. We will hear from Karl Mercer at a nearby mosque which

:04:06. > :04:10.opened its doors to help those in need tonight, who were evacuated

:04:11. > :04:15.from the tower block itself. Alice has a different vantage point of the

:04:16. > :04:19.one I've got now. Firstly, I think we should hear from those affected

:04:20. > :04:25.most. People who tonight are counting themselves lucky to escape

:04:26. > :04:28.alive. People who lost their homes and in many cases, people who have

:04:29. > :04:36.lost just about everything they own... Today is the 14th of June...

:04:37. > :04:38.2am, I was woken up by the siren noise.

:04:39. > :04:53.We ran downstairs, it took us a solid four minutes to get out,

:04:54. > :04:55.just as I was entering the ground floor, the fire

:04:56. > :05:06.I looked down and there was fire on the left side.

:05:07. > :05:09.Every minute, it was getting worse and worse.

:05:10. > :05:18.People were in the building after an hour.

:05:19. > :05:52.The people screaming, the worst thing.

:05:53. > :05:56.People were calling out and asking what floor they were on.

:05:57. > :05:58.There were people on the tenth and 11th floors, where

:05:59. > :06:01.they were actually using the fire hoses, and they saw people waving

:06:02. > :06:04.from the windows and a woman screaming that she had

:06:05. > :06:14.Already, she's out, but her brother and wife

:06:15. > :06:24.We don't know if they are safe or not.

:06:25. > :06:28.For me, the one image that sticks in my mind was seeing a family

:06:29. > :06:32.waving what appeared to be a towel for around an hour.

:06:33. > :06:35.There was a helicopter coming about 400 metres from their window,

:06:36. > :06:40.For me, the thing I took from this was how agonising must that have

:06:41. > :06:44.been for that family, when they were there.

:06:45. > :06:50.We watched them stop moving from the street.

:06:51. > :06:53.This is one of my main concerns about living in a tower block.

:06:54. > :06:57.On Saturday, we did have the fire brigade team come around and speak

:06:58. > :07:08.They told us that the protocol was to close your door

:07:09. > :07:11.because the fire door will withstand the heat for a duration of time.

:07:12. > :07:13.But I think what has happened is they haven't understood

:07:14. > :07:15.that the fire had spread around the building.

:07:16. > :07:17.That is wrong information for that building and

:07:18. > :07:24.If you are staying in your house, you could still be trapped.

:07:25. > :07:31.If you had stayed... If I listen to the advice given to me by the fire

:07:32. > :07:37.brigade and by the TMO management team, we could be dead. You've got

:07:38. > :07:42.family on the 18th floor, and you spoke to them last night? What were

:07:43. > :07:47.they saying? Smoke. They couldn't get out because of the smoke. I

:07:48. > :07:52.asked... I don't know what I would do if I was him. He just stayed in

:07:53. > :07:57.the room, hoping the fire brigade would get up there. That is what

:07:58. > :08:01.they were told? Yeah, they stayed in there to follow the instructions.

:08:02. > :08:08.Not much you could do from the 80th floor and they cannot fly. -- 18th.

:08:09. > :08:13.He was like an older brother, always looking after me. What is the

:08:14. > :08:18.latest? Apparently it has been confirmed that he has passed, due to

:08:19. > :08:26.the chemicals from the building, in the hospital... I just... I don't

:08:27. > :08:31.know what to think. The moment that building went up, how, why? There

:08:32. > :08:31.are a lot of questions to be asked. The

:08:32. > :08:37.voices of those affected by the tower block fire in the early hours

:08:38. > :08:41.of the morning. I noticed as soon as I came to the area this afternoon to

:08:42. > :08:42.see the fire myself, people were approaching me immediately and

:08:43. > :08:56.asking if we had heard from their loved ones,

:08:57. > :09:01.one of those people is Ray Fiasco, tell us about them? A good friend of

:09:02. > :09:14.mine. Her and her mother, the last we heard from them was at 3:30am.

:09:15. > :09:20.Did you hear from them on the phone? No, they were messaging a friend on

:09:21. > :09:28.Twitter. As soon as he heard, he got there and from 2:30am to 3:30am,

:09:29. > :09:33.they lost contact. I woke up to a phone call saying to check the news,

:09:34. > :09:38.Khadija is in there. I could not get through. I turned to social media

:09:39. > :09:42.and I thought, you know what? Maybe someone has seen her. You are

:09:43. > :09:46.handing out leaflets in the area. All the best of luck. I hope you do

:09:47. > :09:51.find Khadija. That is typical of a number of people in the area. It

:09:52. > :09:56.seems to me, London is a huge city with millions of people inside. When

:09:57. > :10:01.it comes to a tragedy, Londoners behave like one community, as you

:10:02. > :10:04.would expect in a small village somewhere, of people coming together

:10:05. > :10:08.and supporting those in need. Karl Mercer is in a mosque a short

:10:09. > :10:11.distance from where I am now. He's been looking to see how people are

:10:12. > :10:18.doing just that, and coming together. Karl? Yes, we've seen it

:10:19. > :10:24.across west London all afternoon, people coming with bags and bringing

:10:25. > :10:29.food. Here we are, just about half a mile from the scene. You can see

:10:30. > :10:33.just how busy it is. If you take a walk inside, when we arrived at 12

:10:34. > :10:37.o'clock this afternoon, there was hardly anything here. Hardly anybody

:10:38. > :10:43.here. But, take a look at what has happened since. This room has been

:10:44. > :10:47.full, a lot of water and food from here has already been taken to those

:10:48. > :10:51.in need. If we swing to the other side of the room, we've got a lot of

:10:52. > :10:56.clothes donated and a lot of bedding as well. As I say, it is something

:10:57. > :10:59.that's been happening across West London this afternoon. People have

:11:00. > :11:05.been approaching us as well and offering us assistance. We are now

:11:06. > :11:10.joined by the chief executive of the cultural centre and mosque here.

:11:11. > :11:18.Abdul-Rahman Kassig Ede, a very difficult day for you and many

:11:19. > :11:22.worshippers he would also have suffered? Yes, people worried about

:11:23. > :11:26.their loved ones. People do not know what happened to their loved ones.

:11:27. > :11:31.They do not have any information but in the meantime, we are doing our

:11:32. > :11:35.best to offer all the help people need. We've been inundated with the

:11:36. > :11:42.generosity of the community. People have called us from as far as Luton

:11:43. > :11:46.and Gatwick to offer us assistance, supplying us with food and blankets.

:11:47. > :11:49.And it has been very personal for the cultural centre and mosque as

:11:50. > :11:56.well, some of your staff have family and many of the worshippers would

:11:57. > :11:58.have worshipped here? Yes, some worshippers have family in the

:11:59. > :12:03.building and don't know what happened to them. Worshippers as

:12:04. > :12:09.well. It is a difficult situation we are in but we are trying to cope by

:12:10. > :12:13.providing emotional and material support the community needs, as a

:12:14. > :12:18.centre. We have deleted there. Thank you very much. As you can see, the

:12:19. > :12:23.effort continues here -- we have to leave it there. It's been a

:12:24. > :12:28.difficult day for people who have been losing their homes, and our

:12:29. > :12:35.correspondence Catherine Carpenter has been finding out their stories

:12:36. > :12:38.of the day. Thank you very much. A neighbour brings 88 of Mary Dennis a

:12:39. > :12:46.chair, she's been awake since the early hours when she fled her home

:12:47. > :12:53.afraid and confused. I heard banging on my door, bang, bang. I did not

:12:54. > :12:59.get up. But what happened, when they banged it and I got up... They said

:13:00. > :13:06.to evacuate out, out. There is fire. I rang in my nightie. There was

:13:07. > :13:13.enough screaming, children screaming, everybody screaming.

:13:14. > :13:17.Another neighbour offers food and water. Thiago says he needs to keep

:13:18. > :13:23.busy so he does not dwell on what he heard and what he saw. I could hear

:13:24. > :13:28.people from the tower, there were a lot of casualties, and they said

:13:29. > :13:35.people were jumping from the building... Overnight, Saint Clement

:13:36. > :13:38.'s Church became his century. Here and at every rescue centre,

:13:39. > :13:45.donations have flooded in all day -- sanctuary. We are Londoners.

:13:46. > :13:49.Everybody is a London. We had to help each other. I've been here all

:13:50. > :13:55.morning. I have older clothes for older people this time... I will

:13:56. > :13:58.help you. Thank you, darling. This morning it was kids clothes. I've

:13:59. > :14:05.seen loads of locals coming down. This mosque counts many Grenfell

:14:06. > :14:08.Tower residence among its worshippers. Today they were sorting

:14:09. > :14:12.clothes and cooking, for those breaking fast tonight or in need

:14:13. > :14:17.after the longest of days. Other members of the community took people

:14:18. > :14:23.into their homes. At least three families crammed into this terrace

:14:24. > :14:27.in the early hours. My son is asthmatic and was having an asthma

:14:28. > :14:32.attack. As soon as she saw us, this woman took as an here. If not, we

:14:33. > :14:36.would have been out all night. Also taken in, this four-month-old. Her

:14:37. > :14:45.bed for the night is a stranger's sober while her mother waits for

:14:46. > :14:47.news of missing friends. -- sofa. Catherine Carpenter, BBC London

:14:48. > :14:51.news. As you can see, the charity effort

:14:52. > :14:55.continues and will continue late into the night. My colleague has

:14:56. > :14:57.been out today talking to people living in the area about their fears

:14:58. > :15:08.of living in high-rise blocks. That's right. I've been here all

:15:09. > :15:11.day. I am now on the balcony of a low-rise block, just on Bromley

:15:12. > :15:16.Road, as you can see right in front of the Grenfell Tower. I've been in

:15:17. > :15:20.the area all day, speaking to people. Some local residents and

:15:21. > :15:25.some from outside the area, who have come to offer their help and

:15:26. > :15:28.support. I've also been speaking to firefighters, I spoke to some this

:15:29. > :15:35.morning coming off shift. They've been here for 12 hours. They told me

:15:36. > :15:39.when they arrived at this fire it was too dangerous to go in. Debris

:15:40. > :15:43.was falling. It was only when riot police were able to make a tunnel

:15:44. > :15:48.out of shields that they were able to enter the building. As you can

:15:49. > :15:52.imagine, people living in this block saw exactly what happened next door,

:15:53. > :15:56.as well as people living in all of these tower blocks. There are plenty

:15:57. > :16:02.around here. The fire raises questions about the safety of

:16:03. > :16:08.London's tower blocks. In 2009 there were recommendations made after a

:16:09. > :16:11.similar fire in Southwark, but critics say some of the

:16:12. > :16:14.recommendations haven't been followed, and lessons have not been

:16:15. > :16:20.learned. Here is our correspondence Tom Edwards. Knowing full well, when

:16:21. > :16:26.you are watching this that people are not going to be OK, that this

:16:27. > :16:28.isn't going to be OK, this isn't going to end well... Yeah, it's

:16:29. > :16:32.heartbreaking. REPORTER: Angela lives on the 90th

:16:33. > :16:37.floor in the block opposite Grenfell Tower. After last night, she is now

:16:38. > :16:42.extremely concerned about the fire risk in her own building -- 19th

:16:43. > :16:46.floor. What came to mind at 3am this morning is what is the security

:16:47. > :16:57.protocol in this building, if something similar were to happen?

:16:58. > :17:00.What would I do and where would my parents go? How would we leave

:17:01. > :17:02.quickly? This fire raises questions about London's housing stock. The

:17:03. > :17:07.last major fatal fire was in Southwark in 2009 where six people

:17:08. > :17:12.died. The coroner made recommendations,

:17:13. > :17:17.there should be clarity of residents should stay put or get out.

:17:18. > :17:20.Councils should retrofit sprinklers and simplify building regulations

:17:21. > :17:26.about what can be changed. The chances of getting a fire are very

:17:27. > :17:30.low... In 2010 the London assembly also highlighted concerns about the

:17:31. > :17:35.capital's high-rise housing stock. We found that there was a relatively

:17:36. > :17:40.low risk of actually having a fire in a tall loading. Really, you are

:17:41. > :17:47.fairly safe but the problem is if there is a fire, advice is often not

:17:48. > :17:50.given about the right way to behave and information not being given to

:17:51. > :17:55.tenants by landlords and councils not giving advice to landlords.

:17:56. > :18:00.According to city hall, 8% of London's population live in

:18:01. > :18:30.high-rise flats, blocks over 11 stories tall.

:18:31. > :18:38.Lessons have not been learned. Today is an absolute tragedy and it is

:18:39. > :18:40.caused by the lack of proper regulation of refurbishment

:18:41. > :18:45.standards. The government have been pressed for a number of years by the

:18:46. > :18:51.all-party and to committee on safety to do a review of the building

:18:52. > :18:55.regulations to test the integrity of the tools that are used in

:18:56. > :18:59.refurbishment and they have continually put this off. The

:19:00. > :19:04.government says that work is still ongoing and checks will now be

:19:05. > :19:08.carried out on blocks going through similar refurbishment. But there is

:19:09. > :19:12.now anger and questions. What happened in luck in our house, after

:19:13. > :19:21.it had been refurbished, the verve furbish and had of the fire -- the

:19:22. > :19:26.refurbishment had compromised the fire compartmentalised age and and

:19:27. > :19:30.it didn't compartmentalised. It seems like that is what has happened

:19:31. > :19:34.in Grenfell Tower and people lost their lives. There has been a lot of

:19:35. > :19:42.talk around external cladding, making sure that tower blocks of

:19:43. > :19:45.fire proofed inside properly and compartmentalised, meaning that a

:19:46. > :19:49.buyer should not be spread from within a flat where it breaks out,

:19:50. > :19:54.enabling the fire brigade to get there and deal with the incident.

:19:55. > :19:59.It's difficult to see why this has happened and there are no excuses

:20:00. > :20:03.for it. This man also lives in the block opposite. He hasn't been able

:20:04. > :20:08.to contact a friend who lived in Grenfell Tower. Where the claims

:20:09. > :20:15.are, it if you move to the right, there is a gap there by the smoke,

:20:16. > :20:19.that is where she used to live. While it isn't clear why this fire

:20:20. > :20:28.happened, it is very clear that safeguards failed.

:20:29. > :20:31.As we have been hearing, this tower block, Grenfell Tower, underwent a

:20:32. > :20:36.?10 million refurbishment that was completed last year and tonight, the

:20:37. > :20:43.fire minister has said they will be carrying out emergency

:20:44. > :20:47.investigations on every tower block undergoing similar refurbishment.

:20:48. > :20:50.Part of the refurbishment included new cladding so questions are now

:20:51. > :20:57.being asked about the risks posed by that cladding as Gareth Burbidge

:20:58. > :21:05.reports. Arnold tiling is a fire safety expert and he's about to

:21:06. > :21:09.carry out a test. The reason he is doing this is because he has a

:21:10. > :21:13.theory about why the fire spread so rapidly at the Grenfell Tower. And

:21:14. > :21:19.it's to do with the material that may have been used when cladding was

:21:20. > :21:24.fitted. The actual rigid board installation that I believe is most

:21:25. > :21:28.likely to have been used is made from the same material,

:21:29. > :21:33.polyurethane. I am now setting fire to this and this is the rate at

:21:34. > :21:38.which it burns. That is very, very rapid and this is a typical material

:21:39. > :21:44.used for insulating the external part of buildings. This test was put

:21:45. > :21:48.out easily but he thinks terms of similar materials could have quickly

:21:49. > :21:53.burned out of control. A baby that I have is that the building has been

:21:54. > :21:58.clad with a flammable insulation material on the exterior. Of course,

:21:59. > :22:03.there is no official statement yet on the cause of the fire and the

:22:04. > :22:08.reason for its rapid spread. But three years ago, at a safety

:22:09. > :22:12.conference, Arnold tiling publicly warned that cladding high-rise

:22:13. > :22:18.buildings could end in disaster and now he fears he may have been proved

:22:19. > :22:23.right. Yes, it looks typical of a cladding related fire on the

:22:24. > :22:26.exterior of the property. All the external cladding has completely

:22:27. > :22:31.gone, which is what you would expect if you have got flammable materials.

:22:32. > :22:36.The principle of the design of the cladding is that it's there to allow

:22:37. > :22:40.rain to effectively get in and run down that cavity. The problem is

:22:41. > :22:45.that it will also allow fire to spread up and what will happen is it

:22:46. > :22:49.will actually create a path for the fire to spread and encourage the

:22:50. > :22:53.fire to spread faster and more intensely. A spokesperson for the

:22:54. > :22:58.contractors who completed the refurbishment last year said it met

:22:59. > :23:04.all required building control by regulation and health and safety

:23:05. > :23:10.standards. -- by regulation and health and safety standards. Another

:23:11. > :23:15.company involved said it would not be appropriate to comment or for

:23:16. > :23:18.others to speculate on any aspect of the fire or its courses in advance

:23:19. > :23:25.of the enquiries. At this time, the company said it was not aware of any

:23:26. > :23:32.link between the buyer and -- between the fire and the exterior

:23:33. > :23:36.cladding. Back here across the road from Grenfell Tower, I am joined by

:23:37. > :23:42.Jim Fitzpatrick, MP, a former firefighter himself, and Archbishop

:23:43. > :23:50.Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. What we are seeing is a

:23:51. > :23:54.real coming together of people, of communities, Archbishop, helping

:23:55. > :23:59.each other? It has been the most extraordinary sight around here.

:24:00. > :24:05.People filling out churches but people from all faiths using the

:24:06. > :24:10.church buildings, using holes, using whatever centres they can find,

:24:11. > :24:15.working together, huge teams of volunteers together working

:24:16. > :24:18.effectively. As someone said to me earlier, it's the community of

:24:19. > :24:23.Christ in hospitality, in partnership with everybody else and

:24:24. > :24:26.everyone can just get stuck in. And then of course this extraordinary

:24:27. > :24:33.work by the emergency services. I've been with them, talking to them, and

:24:34. > :24:38.just exhaustion written across their faces. Stress and yet courage. And

:24:39. > :24:40.this is what is becoming typical of London, the way people come

:24:41. > :24:47.together. They forget their differences. Ed Smith -- its

:24:48. > :24:52.mosques, synagogues, all areas taking in people as well as

:24:53. > :24:56.churches. Absolutely. As we have seen, and we saw in Manchester as

:24:57. > :25:01.well, everyone coming together when there is a tragedy on this scale and

:25:02. > :25:07.just an outpouring of the most extraordinary love and generosity

:25:08. > :25:12.and people just getting stuck in. Putting their own interests aside.

:25:13. > :25:16.It's incredible. Jim Fitzpatrick, you were firefighter yourself. What

:25:17. > :25:23.were your first thoughts when you heard about the fire? I turned on my

:25:24. > :25:27.TV and saw the pictures coming from here and I was totally shocked and

:25:28. > :25:34.images. There was awareness growing images. There was awareness growing

:25:35. > :25:41.of a state that thought, where some people say they were told to stay

:25:42. > :25:44.put in the tower block in case of a fire. What do you say about that?

:25:45. > :25:49.That is normally advice given to people because every flat is

:25:50. > :25:53.self-contained and the fire doors, if they are up to specification,

:25:54. > :25:57.should give an hour to everyone inside. You normally advice would be

:25:58. > :26:00.to stay indoors, the fire brigade turn up and they can take control

:26:01. > :26:06.and make a decision. Clearly when they turned up here at 1am, the fire

:26:07. > :26:09.had a hold, the rapidity of spread meant that advice changed and

:26:10. > :26:13.firefighters were trying to get people out of the building. There is

:26:14. > :26:17.different advice for different circumstances, but normally it is

:26:18. > :26:21.safer to stay in the building, inside the flat you worrying if the

:26:22. > :26:25.building does catch fire until you are advised by the emergency

:26:26. > :26:29.services what you should do. What is your thought on how we can stop

:26:30. > :26:34.something like that happening again? We can stop this happening.

:26:35. > :26:37.Sprinkler systems would have prevented this fire going further

:26:38. > :26:44.than one room and one flat. The tower block in Southwark where six

:26:45. > :26:52.people died in 2009, recommendations were made and we have been asking

:26:53. > :26:56.for a review since 2013, asking the government when they are going to

:26:57. > :27:01.issue the review of standards, because buildings are different now

:27:02. > :27:04.from when this was built in 1974. London's skyline is showing

:27:05. > :27:08.different structures, different materials. There are different risks

:27:09. > :27:12.and we need to stay ahead of the curve and that is not what has

:27:13. > :27:15.happened here. We could have prevented this. What is your advice

:27:16. > :27:21.to people who are still looking for missing loved ones this evening? Get

:27:22. > :27:25.help, be alongside with other people, don't be by yourself,

:27:26. > :27:29.because the pressure is so extreme. Find someone, there are so many

:27:30. > :27:35.people around, go to one of the community centres, one of the

:27:36. > :27:38.churches and say, I am looking. There are grief counsellors,

:27:39. > :27:43.doctors, all sorts of people. They will help you. Don't be by yourself.

:27:44. > :27:47.That's the main advice. Secondly, to know that the whole country is

:27:48. > :27:52.standing at your side and grieving and worrying with you. Archbishop,

:27:53. > :27:57.that is good advice. We are sadly out of time. For those people who

:27:58. > :28:01.are looking for loved ones, the Metropolitan Police have opened up a

:28:02. > :28:06.dedicated line to help those people. It's on your screen now. It's the

:28:07. > :28:25.Metropolitan Police casualty bureau, oh 800 0961 26 -- too creepy.

:28:26. > :28:35.Welcome to west London. This is the scene this evening, still

:28:36. > :28:41.smouldering, home to some 600 people, 24 floors of accommodation

:28:42. > :28:44.now reduced to a black and Hulk. Through the day we have heard all

:28:45. > :28:49.sorts of accounts from residents. Spare a thought for those who left

:28:50. > :28:53.the building last night in the early hours of the morning, coming out of

:28:54. > :28:58.their apartments into thick smoke and coming through today knowing

:28:59. > :29:02.they have lost their worldly possessions and tonight they must

:29:03. > :29:06.find emergency accommodation. It has been a very difficult day for the

:29:07. > :29:10.residents here, but at least the community have rallied around them.

:29:11. > :29:14.We will hear stories of how people are helping. Accommodation, showers,

:29:15. > :29:18.really helping in any way they can after what people have been three.

:29:19. > :29:21.In the last short while, we have heard from the London Fire Brigade.

:29:22. > :29:26.We know the firefighters have made it to the top of the building. That

:29:27. > :29:29.doesn't mean they have done a research of the upper apartments but

:29:30. > :29:33.they have managed to get to the top to assess the situation up there.

:29:34. > :29:37.Structurally, it is still standing but obviously there are structural

:29:38. > :29:43.engineers here, taking a view of the property as it continues to burn and

:29:44. > :29:46.ensuring that the firemen who are working around it, and there are

:29:47. > :29:50.still plenty of them here, that they are safe. There is plenty of debris

:29:51. > :29:54.and masonry still falling off the building, so it is a very unsafe

:29:55. > :29:57.atmosphere. You will see from the pictures of the building that they

:29:58. > :30:01.have managed to get a hydraulic crane up. They are targeting water

:30:02. > :30:04.into the centre of the building remotely said that they don't have

:30:05. > :30:06.to put officers in danger's way. Let's speak to someone who has been

:30:07. > :30:15.involved today. His aunt was in the building last

:30:16. > :30:20.night. Did you manage to get out safely? Where was she? Luckily, she

:30:21. > :30:24.managed to get out safely. She was on the second floor of the Grenfell

:30:25. > :30:29.Tower. When I arrived at 1am, the whole of one side of the facade was

:30:30. > :30:33.engulfed in flames. I have been there ever since. I haven't at the

:30:34. > :30:38.site, haven't gone home yet. Within four hours, the whole building had

:30:39. > :30:44.gone up. As each hour went on, I think the exterior, the power -- the

:30:45. > :30:47.panels, the cladding, that was catching fire and spreading the

:30:48. > :30:51.inferno around the building. But it was definitely on one side. I was in

:30:52. > :30:57.east London at the time that I got the phone call about the tower being

:30:58. > :31:04.on fire and as I drove down the a 40, you could see it for miles.

:31:05. > :31:11.Where was your aunt when you got the call? When I got the call, she was

:31:12. > :31:19.at home. Thankfully, someone had alerted her before I called her, so

:31:20. > :31:25.she takes it has something, I'm OK. She left promptly, as clean as she

:31:26. > :31:29.could. -- as soon as she could. She does suffer with arthritis but luck

:31:30. > :31:35.she believed she was on a lower level, so it was easy for her to get

:31:36. > :31:38.out. I think anyone above a certain flaw in that tower block either

:31:39. > :31:44.struggled or didn't get out. How long has your aunt lived here? Many

:31:45. > :31:49.I've imagine she has been here about I've imagine she has been here about

:31:50. > :31:55.the same. Did she have concerns about the building? This area, it is

:31:56. > :31:58.close around here and when people talk, word gets around and everyone

:31:59. > :32:03.gets involved in other peoples business. Grenfell Tower has a bit

:32:04. > :32:07.of history of issues in the past. It's something we've always been

:32:08. > :32:11.aware of. Something was done about it, I'm not too sure. I don't live

:32:12. > :32:15.in the block myself. I live across from it. It was only refurbished

:32:16. > :32:19.about a year ago, so you would have thought if there were safety

:32:20. > :32:23.concerns, they would have been taken care of when work was done. Was she

:32:24. > :32:28.asleep when the render -- when the fire began? It was 2am, so she would

:32:29. > :32:42.have been asleep. Most people would have been. Where these stairwells

:32:43. > :32:47.full of smoke? She ran out. So she ignored the advice to stay?

:32:48. > :32:54.Absolutely. In that instance, you go into survival mode and luckily I saw

:32:55. > :32:59.her safe and well. I could say that I could put my worries to rest but

:33:00. > :33:03.there are friends of ours that we still haven't heard from. Presumably

:33:04. > :33:07.she knows many of the people here because she has lived in for so

:33:08. > :33:11.long? Absolutely. Some of the people in that have lived there for 30 plus

:33:12. > :33:16.years. It's affected not only the people in that building but everyone

:33:17. > :33:21.around it. If you look around here, there are people from other places

:33:22. > :33:25.that have come just to help, for food, from all religions, all races.

:33:26. > :33:29.Everything has been put aside for today and it's a matching -- it's

:33:30. > :33:34.amazing to watch. The police, the fire brigade, all the emergency

:33:35. > :33:37.services helping. It's absolutely amazing, breathtaking. Finally,

:33:38. > :33:44.where is she going to go tonight? Are you housing her? I will house

:33:45. > :33:48.her by all means if necessary. She is a very strong woman, my aunt, and

:33:49. > :33:52.will do all she can to sort this out for herself. We will always be there

:33:53. > :33:56.for her. At the moment, she has got to lovely sons, my cousins, and they

:33:57. > :34:01.are doing a good job of looking after her. Thank you for speaking to

:34:02. > :34:07.us. His aunt was in the building last night but glad to say she got

:34:08. > :34:18.out safely. There has been an extraordinary effort, as he said,

:34:19. > :34:22.today. Some people have showered locally and giving them closer they

:34:23. > :34:26.can get to the end of the day. Tonight, of course, people looking

:34:27. > :34:33.for emergency accommodation. Some hotels in the area offering

:34:34. > :34:35.accommodation and some concerns that Kensington and Chelsea Council are

:34:36. > :34:40.doing enough for neighbouring council blocks that have had to

:34:41. > :34:43.vacate. We will hear more about that in a second but let's hear most --

:34:44. > :34:49.first from our correspondent, Lucy Manning.

:34:50. > :34:50.The air was punctuated with the sound of crying.

:34:51. > :34:57.They gathered outside the community centre.

:34:58. > :35:05.The one thing nobody could offer was good news.

:35:06. > :35:10.For this family, it was, understandably, too much.

:35:11. > :35:12.My mum, my sister, her daughters and husband.

:35:13. > :35:21.I don't know if they are out, we don't have any information.

:35:22. > :35:23.She gave us this picture of her three smiling neices.

:35:24. > :35:35.You haven't been able to contact them?

:35:36. > :35:38.I phoned my sister, all I could hear was screaming.

:35:39. > :35:42.I was trying to tell her, get out, get to the nearest fire exit.

:35:43. > :35:56.The police officers heard me shouting on the phone.

:35:57. > :35:59.I really just wanted to go in there, basically, do something.

:36:00. > :36:11.In the last hour, she heard news that someone might have

:36:12. > :36:17.After the panic of the night, the day brought only silence.

:36:18. > :36:20.I haven't seen my brother-in-law, his wife and three children.

:36:21. > :36:23.The children are aged 20, the boy is 20.

:36:24. > :36:31.He spoke to them as they were trapped.

:36:32. > :36:42.She said her husband was talking to the emergency people.

:36:43. > :36:45.They said, they are coming to get us, but the heat

:36:46. > :36:50.I said, get a wet blanket, but the kids on the floor

:36:51. > :36:55.She said, we can't do it, because the smoke is killing us,

:36:56. > :36:59.The smoke is coming through the doors.

:37:00. > :37:01.She is keeping covering it, but it is heavy.

:37:02. > :37:03.That was the last time we have heard from her.

:37:04. > :37:06.For those on the lower floors that did make it out,

:37:07. > :37:16.I woke up at about 12.45, hearing, help me, a woman screaming, my baby,

:37:17. > :37:31.The police were knocking on the doors, evacuate, evacuate.

:37:32. > :37:35.We thought we had to get the hell out of here, it is going up.

:37:36. > :37:39.Ed was saved by his friend calling him and telling him to leave.

:37:40. > :37:42.The smoke was so thick, you couldn't see anything.

:37:43. > :37:46.I got three quarters of the way and then I was using my hands

:37:47. > :37:52.I began thinking to myself, this is going to be me, you know?

:37:53. > :37:56.I'm going to die of smoke inhalation.

:37:57. > :37:57.There was actually a fireman lying on the ground.

:37:58. > :38:10.He just touched my foot and led me to wear the fire exit was.

:38:11. > :38:13.Ed was instrumental in raising concerns about the safety

:38:14. > :38:19.This accident never needed to happen.

:38:20. > :38:25.If people had listened to what we were saying,

:38:26. > :38:27.what the blog was saying, what members of the

:38:28. > :38:38.This accident never needed to happen.

:38:39. > :38:40.Inside the centre, those waiting for news or that have

:38:41. > :38:43.lost their homes are covered downstairs in the hall.

:38:44. > :38:46.As you can imagine, it is a fairly distressing situation.

:38:47. > :38:52.At times, people are sobbing as they wait for news.

:38:53. > :38:55.News that, at this stage, will possibly not be good news.

:38:56. > :38:58.They are getting help with housing, with food, and the medical help.

:38:59. > :39:04.Now, it is not just the burned-out building that looms over this

:39:05. > :39:07.community, but the fear that they will hear that many more

:39:08. > :39:26.No doubt we are going to be facing, I think, some sad use in the hours

:39:27. > :39:29.ahead because that recovery and -- that recovery operation is still

:39:30. > :39:32.going on. Let's speak to somebody who has been helping today,

:39:33. > :39:42.providing spiritual help as well as a shoulder to climb on -- a shoulder

:39:43. > :39:45.to cry on, the local bishop. You have been providing some help to the

:39:46. > :39:48.firemen and the emergency service crews who have been in there. We

:39:49. > :39:55.often overlook the fact they have to deal with this traumatic situations

:39:56. > :39:59.as well. Exactly, right around the tower block there are Fire Service,

:40:00. > :40:04.ambulance, police, all of whom are dealing with the immediate issue

:40:05. > :40:08.themselves, trying to put out the fire and to see what can be done

:40:09. > :40:14.with the fire antibodies that are inside. I have been spending the day

:40:15. > :40:17.along with quite a lot of the clergy locally being around them, giving

:40:18. > :40:22.them someone to talk to, and I think I have appreciated someone giving

:40:23. > :40:24.their time to listen to their stories and allowing them to

:40:25. > :40:26.unburden themselves of some of the things they have had to do today. A

:40:27. > :40:34.lot of the people in the early hours lot of the people in the early hours

:40:35. > :40:36.work on adrenaline, trying to get themselves to safety. Tonight, they

:40:37. > :40:41.will be processing what they have been through. Tell us of some of the

:40:42. > :40:45.stories you have heard and what people are doing? Some of them are

:40:46. > :40:49.pretty grim stories, firefighters going into the building, not only

:40:50. > :40:54.coping with the heat and the water jets are there on the hottest day of

:40:55. > :41:01.the year, but also having to step over bodies and having to manage the

:41:02. > :41:06.trauma of that kind of thing. Many of them are used to it. They are

:41:07. > :41:10.extraordinarily professional and one of the things that struck me was how

:41:11. > :41:13.Carmel. But also I think many of them realised that in the days to

:41:14. > :41:18.come a lot of the memories that have affected them to day will come back.

:41:19. > :41:21.They have been through this, not on this scale before, firefighters who

:41:22. > :41:25.have been firefighters for 30 years and have never seen this before.

:41:26. > :41:33.Indeed, we heard from the commander in charge of the London Fire Brigade

:41:34. > :41:35.today and she said she has been in the service for 29 years and have

:41:36. > :41:39.never seen anything like this in a never seen anything like this in a

:41:40. > :41:40.high-rise building. What about accommodation? There are concerns

:41:41. > :41:43.that there is not enough accommodation for people. I have

:41:44. > :41:52.just been down to Saint Clement Church which has been open all day,

:41:53. > :41:55.since 3am, and they have been providing people with space but most

:41:56. > :41:58.of the people that have been there have been taken to the Westway

:41:59. > :42:03.Centre and two other places for accommodation. A lot of other

:42:04. > :42:07.churches locally have set themselves up as places that people can stay.

:42:08. > :42:12.St John's in Notting Hill have set aside 40 beds in the body of the

:42:13. > :42:15.church will people to stay in. My hope is, the council have told us

:42:16. > :42:22.that accommodation has been found. Whether we actually, whether that is

:42:23. > :42:27.actually true, I guess we will know tomorrow morning. Of course, it is

:42:28. > :42:33.not only those in the block. It is people around as well. It is mostly

:42:34. > :42:37.that, actually. Most of the people who need a bed are those who have

:42:38. > :42:40.been evacuated from the local area. I was speaking to one family who

:42:41. > :42:45.were evacuated in the middle of the night last night, came out with no

:42:46. > :42:48.clothes, no anything, the mother had to leave her medication in the flat

:42:49. > :42:51.and they are beginning to worry about what happens when the

:42:52. > :42:58.medication wears off tomorrow. There are a lot of distrust people around.

:42:59. > :43:04.Of course, you get to know the -- there are a lot of distressed people

:43:05. > :43:09.around. Of course you get to know the local community. I was speaking

:43:10. > :43:18.to one of our Filipino priest 's early today and he is anxious about

:43:19. > :43:21.a lot of his people who he knows where in the building that he hasn't

:43:22. > :43:27.spoken to. There are also good news stories, speaking to a fireman who

:43:28. > :43:31.brought out a survivor at 9am, up on one of the upper floors, the door

:43:32. > :43:34.opens and an elderly gentleman walks out, sounded like he was blind and

:43:35. > :43:39.they were able to take him out and get him out safely. One of the last

:43:40. > :43:42.out of the building. So there are good news stories like that but I

:43:43. > :43:48.suspect there will be a lot worse to come. Thank you for ending on a good

:43:49. > :43:52.news story. Thank you for talking to us. I should just say, if you do

:43:53. > :43:53.want to know anything about anyone who was trapped in the building,

:43:54. > :44:16.there is a number. Well, obviously we have heard from

:44:17. > :44:20.people who have been helping out here today. There will be an awful

:44:21. > :44:23.lot of questions as well about buildings of this nature, high-rise

:44:24. > :44:28.buildings, particularly old buildings. This one was built in

:44:29. > :44:33.1973 and only has one stairwell in and out, one exit route for those

:44:34. > :44:36.people on the upper floors, and there will be a lot of questions

:44:37. > :44:40.asked about building regulations in the wake of this. David Shankman has

:44:41. > :44:46.been looking at what might be discussed in this about.

:44:47. > :44:48.The wreckage of Grenfell House stands amid a cluster

:44:49. > :44:50.Like many cities around the world, London has seen

:44:51. > :44:54.Homes and offices, perched high above street level,

:44:55. > :44:57.with a host of safety rules designed to resist fire.

:44:58. > :44:59.But eight years ago, a blaze at this tower block in south

:45:00. > :45:05.Southwark Council was fined for breaching fire regulations.

:45:06. > :45:08.And there are plenty of expert voices today saying

:45:09. > :45:10.that the lessons of what happened here at Lakanal House

:45:11. > :45:15.Lakanal House demonstrated that people were at risk

:45:16. > :45:20.The fire in west London last night, this morning, as demonstrated

:45:21. > :45:23.that they are still at risk in their own homes.

:45:24. > :45:25.These fires shouldn't be happening in 21st-century London.

:45:26. > :45:31.We've got the ability to stop them from happening,

:45:32. > :45:34.and when fires do break out, to restrict them to small areas

:45:35. > :45:38.One key question in the spotlight today is about the design of tower

:45:39. > :45:40.blocks, and how they are meant to keep people safe

:45:41. > :45:45.Normally, a fire hose can only reach about 15 metres.

:45:46. > :45:48.Grenfell Tower stands 67 metres high.

:45:49. > :45:51.In America, they rely on what is called "active safety".

:45:52. > :45:54.Sprinklers fight fires in every room, but that can be expensive.

:45:55. > :45:57.The basic principle here, until recently, has been passive

:45:58. > :45:59.safety, designing the building to confine any blaze

:46:00. > :46:08.Another focus will be on the cladding fitted

:46:09. > :46:10.to the outside of the building panels to improve insulation

:46:11. > :46:13.and the look of older buildings like Grenfell Tower.

:46:14. > :46:20.But dozens of fires have been linked to cladding around the world.

:46:21. > :46:24.Two years ago, a skyscraper in Dubai caught fire,

:46:25. > :46:29.New rules there have tightened up on the kind

:46:30. > :46:35.Investigators here will explore what role the cladding might have played.

:46:36. > :46:40.In the UK, it has to be what we call of limited combustibility.

:46:41. > :46:43.I am sure that is going to be questioned now, after this fire.

:46:44. > :46:45.What exactly that means, and what these types of cladding

:46:46. > :46:53.systems are adding to the fire load on the building.

:46:54. > :46:57.It was after the Second World War that councils and said

:46:58. > :47:00.by moving away from old terraced homes coming to new

:47:01. > :47:04.But their safety from fire depends on good design and care for.

:47:05. > :47:28.London their says people living in tower blocks will now

:47:29. > :47:30.-- The London Mayor says people living in tower blocks

:47:31. > :47:33.need to be reassured, and fire professionals are shocked

:47:34. > :47:36.Literally every single floor was on fire, internally.

:47:37. > :47:40.You see one floor, two floors, and then a hopping

:47:41. > :47:42.from floor to floor, maybe, over a period of time.

:47:43. > :47:44.You would not normally see an entire facade on fire,

:47:45. > :47:47.then all of the interior on fire at the same time.

:47:48. > :47:50.So, the fire overcame whatever safety features were in place.

:47:51. > :47:53.Last year, the Government promised a review into fire

:47:54. > :47:54.safety in tower blocks, but then delayed it.

:47:55. > :47:56.This disaster now makes that work a priority.

:47:57. > :48:00.Let's speak to Simon Lay - he's the UK Representative

:48:01. > :48:03.for the Council on Tall Buildings - which is an international

:48:04. > :48:10.He joins us from our studio in Salford.

:48:11. > :48:18.What do you think went wrong? It is really too early to say. Any tragedy

:48:19. > :48:24.like this tends to be the result of a combination of a number of

:48:25. > :48:28.factors. There is a lot of talk about things like the facade but

:48:29. > :48:35.really it is too early to tell what has gone wrong. Not jumping to

:48:36. > :48:39.conclusions but many people are talking about this rental planning.

:48:40. > :48:45.Has there been a debate about this cladding, have they been other fires

:48:46. > :48:50.worldwide where concerns have been raised? With cladding systems, they

:48:51. > :48:54.are incredibly complicated. They may look simple on the outside but the

:48:55. > :48:58.details behind it and how they attach to a building is very

:48:59. > :49:05.complex. These types of cladding systems, using aluminium panels,

:49:06. > :49:11.composite panels, are common around the world. In some cases there have

:49:12. > :49:17.been issues with them and in other cases they can be designed to be

:49:18. > :49:23.safe. It comes down to the details. Many people perhaps who do not live

:49:24. > :49:26.in high-rise blocks but who work in high-rise office buildings would be

:49:27. > :49:32.quite surprised that there is only one exit out of a building like this

:49:33. > :49:37.and no sprinkler system. It is perfectly normal until a few years

:49:38. > :49:39.ago in the UK to design a high-rise building without sprinklers. They

:49:40. > :49:44.were introduced in other buildings around the world for many reasons

:49:45. > :49:49.but the data in the UK just did not supported, did not suggest there was

:49:50. > :49:56.a need to introduce sprinklers. Also having a single sack -- staircase in

:49:57. > :49:59.a building in the UK is normal practice, and what we have done for

:50:00. > :50:08.a long time. It had not shown any significant impact on fire safety. I

:50:09. > :50:11.can see two or three other apartment blocks and I dare say many people

:50:12. > :50:17.living in those will be nervous this evening. I'm sure people will feel

:50:18. > :50:23.nervous. I would say each building is different, each building is an

:50:24. > :50:27.individual. And people really should not feel nervous. Living in a

:50:28. > :50:31.high-rise building in the UK whether old or new is one of the safest

:50:32. > :50:35.places to live. Simply because we spend a lot of time and attention

:50:36. > :50:40.looking after them, looking at them and worrying about how they are

:50:41. > :50:48.designed from a fire point of view. Thank you very much. Andy Slaughter

:50:49. > :50:53.is the MP for Hammersmith, the neighbouring constituency. This

:50:54. > :50:58.constituency is Kensington. So you're in Hammersmith and you have

:50:59. > :51:03.had an issue like this yourself on Shepherd's Bush Green just a year

:51:04. > :51:06.ago, what kind of things were discussed after that fire that might

:51:07. > :51:13.appertain to what has happened here? We looked at three main issues, the

:51:14. > :51:19.cause, it was unsafe electrical appliances. And secondly whether

:51:20. > :51:25.there were specific issues to this particular tower block, here I know

:51:26. > :51:29.they had been concerns raised by the residents. But I do not want to

:51:30. > :51:32.speculate about both. Then you look at the longer term issues and the

:51:33. > :51:40.defining characteristic of this terrible tragedy is the way that the

:51:41. > :51:44.fire spread. Although there were a number of flats damaged in the

:51:45. > :51:51.Shepherd's Bush via last August, it was contained by the Fire Services

:51:52. > :52:00.and thankfully we only had minor injuries. He clearly a number of

:52:01. > :52:04.fatalities. Just to ask about that stay put instruction, historically

:52:05. > :52:07.that was in place to stop people filling up stairwells and enable

:52:08. > :52:12.fire officers to get up the stairs as quickly as possible. But at some

:52:13. > :52:16.point during a fire like this they have to change the instructions? The

:52:17. > :52:21.received wisdom for the 30 years I have been involved is that tower

:52:22. > :52:31.blocks are inherently safe because if a fire starts then it can be

:52:32. > :52:34.contained within one or two flats. So the Fire Services can get there

:52:35. > :52:40.and deal with it. That is why I think that advice is given. Clearly

:52:41. > :52:43.hear the spread was so intense and so fast, the emergency services

:52:44. > :52:48.could not get up to those flaws and people simply did not have time to

:52:49. > :52:52.do anything. And without an intercom system to change and instructions

:52:53. > :52:56.officers would have to go door-to-door and tell people to

:52:57. > :53:00.clear out. All that will no doubt come out in what will be a

:53:01. > :53:05.substantial enquiry because this is a national tragedy on a huge scale.

:53:06. > :53:11.The whole of London is in shock. This is a very close and diverse

:53:12. > :53:14.community. And people have come together today fantastically. And

:53:15. > :53:20.people in my constituency just 200 yards away have been here offering

:53:21. > :53:25.help. But many questions to be asked and so much uncertainty amongst

:53:26. > :53:30.people living in similar blocks. I know Hammersmith Council has put out

:53:31. > :53:33.a letter to many living in similar blocks nearby today to give them

:53:34. > :53:40.some reassurance. That will have to happen, inspections but also the

:53:41. > :53:45.investigation into whether there are inherent problems with either the

:53:46. > :53:50.construction or cladding of whenever it is that about this tragedy to

:53:51. > :53:53.happen. You were with me earlier when one resident from a

:53:54. > :53:59.neighbouring block said he had nowhere to go and there are some

:54:00. > :54:01.frustration it would seem that Kensington and Chelsea Council are

:54:02. > :54:06.not providing the accommodation people need. I know you have made

:54:07. > :54:10.some phone calls so what can you tell us? What I have been told is

:54:11. > :54:16.also the most vulnerable are being put up in hotels, people with young

:54:17. > :54:20.children or elderly or sick, otherwise people are only being

:54:21. > :54:28.offered resting centres. If that is right, I do not think that is

:54:29. > :54:32.sufficient. I spoke to my own counsel, Hammersmith, and they have

:54:33. > :54:35.helped to source accommodation. Many people are out of their homes for

:54:36. > :54:40.perhaps a couple of nights, the homes that had not been damaged but

:54:41. > :54:44.considered not to be saved as a precaution to return to tonight. So

:54:45. > :54:49.I would say to Kensington Council, one of the richest councils and the

:54:50. > :54:52.country, that those offers are there and they should have the resources

:54:53. > :54:57.to offer a decent bed to everyone put out of their homes tonight. And

:54:58. > :55:00.I hope they will do that. There has been some political finger-pointing

:55:01. > :55:05.already but just briefly, Jeremy Corbyn saying they will look at

:55:06. > :55:10.preventative measures, look at fire staffing of cause and also building

:55:11. > :55:13.regulations and it is especially those building regulations, there

:55:14. > :55:17.was supposed to be a review of that since 2010 and it has not happened.

:55:18. > :55:23.I think there has been, all public services have been dramatically

:55:24. > :55:25.reduced in the past seven years. Local authorities and the Fire

:55:26. > :55:30.Service and many other bodies. People are looking not to take on

:55:31. > :55:36.responsibilities that they would have in the past. That has to stop.

:55:37. > :55:40.It is not just responding to fire, I think the fire brigade did

:55:41. > :55:44.brilliantly last night but it is all those inspections, making sure there

:55:45. > :55:50.are the right materials and sprinkler systems, if nothing else

:55:51. > :55:54.comes from this tragedy I hope we will do that and provide those

:55:55. > :56:02.resources to do that now. There will be a public clamour for that. Thank

:56:03. > :56:15.you very much. Just to tell you a bit about the casualties. 12 people

:56:16. > :56:21.confirmed to have died and more than 70 treated at six hospitals nearby.

:56:22. > :56:26.A major incident has been declared. 100 medical staff have been working

:56:27. > :56:32.flat out through the course of the day helping people who the bus

:56:33. > :56:34.hospitals. 18 of them still we are told in critical condition.

:56:35. > :56:35.Our Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh reports

:56:36. > :56:43.from St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

:56:44. > :56:54.I think we're struggling to bring about package. Let's talk about Tom

:56:55. > :56:56.Symons, he has Bolivia reports as to what the investigation into Grenfell

:56:57. > :56:58.Tower might be looking at. That is what some residents

:56:59. > :57:02.believe Grenfell Tower was. Friends and relatives dead,

:57:03. > :57:09.injured fighting for their lives. They say, we told you

:57:10. > :57:11.something was going to The proof of that

:57:12. > :57:18.was not hard to find. This is a blog by

:57:19. > :57:21.the tower's residents We have repeatedly

:57:22. > :57:52.reported concerns to the Tenant Management Organisation of

:57:53. > :57:55.the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, including fire safety

:57:56. > :57:57.concerns that were not investigated Management Organisation in

:57:58. > :58:10.the 1990s, but complaints followed. They included concerns

:58:11. > :58:13.about this advice to residents, to stay put inside

:58:14. > :58:17.a flat if there was a fire outside. There were also reports of faulty

:58:18. > :58:20.safety equipment, power surges and Following what happened here,

:58:21. > :58:44.the management was issued with an enforcement order

:58:45. > :58:45.by the fire brigade. It set out a string of failings,

:58:46. > :58:48.failings to ensure preventative measures

:58:49. > :58:51.to properly assess the risk. Failure to offer a well

:58:52. > :58:57.marked escape route. People were angry then,

:58:58. > :59:03.now they are furious. Some of his friends lived

:59:04. > :59:13.at the Grenfell Tower. They changed the doors,

:59:14. > :59:29.the fire doors, which they He has a smoke alarm

:59:30. > :59:38.in his flat but he's central fire alarm, a concern also

:59:39. > :59:47.raised at the Grenfell fire. It was last given

:59:48. > :59:51.a comprehensive fire risk assessment 18 months ago

:59:52. > :59:54.during its refurbishment when it was covered

:59:55. > :59:59.with new cladding, a common process, so the government has ordered

:00:00. > :00:10.wider checks tonight. We discussed with local authorities

:00:11. > :00:14.and the Fire Service of process where we seek to identify towers

:00:15. > :00:19.that might have had a similar process of refurbishment. And do

:00:20. > :00:23.that as quickly as possible to give reassurance to people. The

:00:24. > :00:27.investigation will begin once the exhausting task of putting out the

:00:28. > :00:31.inferno at the Grenfell Tower is complete. Getting to the bottom of

:00:32. > :00:45.why it spread so fast could take months.

:00:46. > :00:51.200 fire officers responded within minutes. And they were the people

:00:52. > :00:57.running up the stairs and we sometimes overlook their bravery.

:00:58. > :01:02.Bob Parkinson is a former fire officer and joins us from our

:01:03. > :01:05.Blackburn studio. Give us an idea of what firefighters face when they go

:01:06. > :01:13.into a building that is burning like this. It is difficult to move

:01:14. > :01:21.around, basically, going into an area that is full of black fog. This

:01:22. > :01:28.black smoke. If you imagine fog, very heavy fog, but it is black, you

:01:29. > :01:31.cannot see a thing. So when you move around unless you have imaging

:01:32. > :01:36.cameras then you can only feel your way around very often. And obviously

:01:37. > :01:40.you cannot breathe in that smoke, it is quite poisonous. And so

:01:41. > :01:44.firefighters wearing breathing apparatus to be able to go into the

:01:45. > :01:49.atmosphere to carry a search and rescue and firefighting. And it is

:01:50. > :01:57.arduous and the breathing apparatus has a limited life depending on the

:01:58. > :02:03.size of the air cylinder. And also on how hard the firefighter is

:02:04. > :02:06.working if he's having to go ten flights, 25 to stairs through the

:02:07. > :02:10.smoke with breathing apparatus on, then that is going to use up a

:02:11. > :02:17.considerable amount of air. So by the time they arrived at the droid

:02:18. > :02:22.they need to be at, sometimes or often they cannot stay long because

:02:23. > :02:25.of insufficient air to carry out whatever procedures they are going

:02:26. > :02:31.to carry out. And then they have to get out of there before the air runs

:02:32. > :02:35.out or at least before what is called the time of the whistle which

:02:36. > :02:42.basically is a safety margin with a small amount of reserve air. And

:02:43. > :02:45.getting water to the top floor is obviously is the biggest problem. We

:02:46. > :02:50.know they could get watered last night to the 12 floors, the first

:02:51. > :02:56.12, but after that point, what do you do to get water onto the fire in

:02:57. > :03:03.the upper floors? In the current build situation there are what they

:03:04. > :03:08.call risers, dry and wet risers, you would find dry risers in their

:03:09. > :03:14.buildings and wet risers in higher buildings and basically a wet writer

:03:15. > :03:18.is a pipe going up through the staircase through each floor. And it

:03:19. > :03:24.is permanently charged with water. At each level you have landing

:03:25. > :03:29.valves were firefighters can connect their homes into that at each level.

:03:30. > :03:36.So the system should be designed to provide water to every level in the

:03:37. > :03:42.flats. And so they do not need to carry heavy hoses and drag those up

:03:43. > :03:48.staircases and things like that. Thank you very much for talking to

:03:49. > :03:53.us. Another fire officer has direct experience of what happened here,

:03:54. > :03:57.Wayne Brown is deputy assistant chief of the London Fire Brigade.

:03:58. > :03:59.There has obviously been much gratitude for your men and what

:04:00. > :04:04.they've done in the past 20 hours. What can you tell us about the

:04:05. > :04:08.building at the moment? Currently the fire crews are working hard to

:04:09. > :04:12.damp down any small pockets of fire that remain within the block. We're

:04:13. > :04:18.working closely with the local authority and other partners to make

:04:19. > :04:22.sure we go through systematically as part of the fire investigation into

:04:23. > :04:26.what might have been the cause. And the structural integrity of the

:04:27. > :04:29.building is of utmost importance to us. We're working closely with local

:04:30. > :04:34.authorities structural engineers to make sure the structural integrity

:04:35. > :04:39.of the building is such that our crews can carry on working in the

:04:40. > :04:42.building. When we look at helicopter pictures we can see there are still

:04:43. > :04:47.pockets of fire still burning. Yes, a building of this size, a fire of

:04:48. > :04:53.this magnitude, there are still pockets of fire remaining. We have

:04:54. > :04:58.got that under control and we are currently working hard to make sure

:04:59. > :05:03.any small pockets of fire are extinguished as soon as possible.

:05:04. > :05:07.Earlier the commander said you have been able to take advantage of

:05:08. > :05:12.drones supplied by I think the Kent Fire Brigade. What did they enable

:05:13. > :05:16.you to do? Will work closely with all bluelight partners and other

:05:17. > :05:19.Fire And Rescue Services around the country. Kent Fire and Rescue

:05:20. > :05:22.Service kindly offered the use of their drones which means we can get

:05:23. > :05:27.close to the building and get some good images of the damage or any

:05:28. > :05:30.small pockets of fire or phrases were someone could be still within

:05:31. > :05:37.the building that we could not see from the ground. We have images from

:05:38. > :05:41.the police helicopter but also because of downdraught we cannot get

:05:42. > :05:45.too close with a helicopter itself. So the drones gamers some footage.

:05:46. > :05:51.The residents told us you were incredible, your men will hear

:05:52. > :05:55.within just under six minutes. But some of them said there was a

:05:56. > :06:02.problem getting all the trucks working, sourcing water. Was that an

:06:03. > :06:05.issue? All the firefighters both men and women have worked tirelessly to

:06:06. > :06:10.date since the early hours of the morning to extinguish the fire. The

:06:11. > :06:15.fire spread rapidly and developed throughout the building, at that

:06:16. > :06:18.stage we tried to supplement the water supplies. As part of that we

:06:19. > :06:22.draw on the water mains from around the local area and sometimes that

:06:23. > :06:26.can cause a bit of pressure within the mains. But we had no reports of

:06:27. > :06:30.any issues with water. We managed to get water to the incident and

:06:31. > :06:34.because the size of the building is difficult at the higher you go, to

:06:35. > :06:38.get good water pressure. But the fire crews worked really hard in

:06:39. > :06:42.really difficult circumstances and carried out some fantastic work

:06:43. > :06:47.today. Rescuing many members of the public. We just heard from a former

:06:48. > :06:51.fire officer what it is like to go up the stairwell is when they're

:06:52. > :06:54.filled with smoke. You reach the top floor of the building but that does

:06:55. > :06:56.not necessarily mean you have been able to search the top floors. That

:06:57. > :07:15.is correct, it is a building of 24 floors, many flats within

:07:16. > :07:17.that. We managed to get to the top of the building working in difficult

:07:18. > :07:20.conditions and smoke and heat. There has obviously been a lot of debris

:07:21. > :07:22.in the building itself is a part of the ongoing work will be to make

:07:23. > :07:25.sure we systematically searched all the remaining floors that are

:07:26. > :07:27.contained within the building. Would it be the case that in a building

:07:28. > :07:30.like this and particularly on the upper floors, the windows would not

:07:31. > :07:33.open fully and does that make it difficult to escape and difficult

:07:34. > :07:37.for you to get in and help? Usually within a building of this size, we

:07:38. > :07:41.do not, the local fire engineering solutions to the building to not

:07:42. > :07:47.allow for upper floor windows to fully open for obvious reasons. The

:07:48. > :07:50.fire development is something that will be part of the investigation

:07:51. > :07:54.and we cannot really comment on whether anything that was within the

:07:55. > :07:57.building has played a part in the actual fire development itself. That

:07:58. > :08:01.will be part of the ongoing investigation. Your men have been a

:08:02. > :08:10.credit to the service. Thank you very much. Well there has been

:08:11. > :08:15.plenty of political reaction today. Alex Forsyth is at Westminster. What

:08:16. > :08:18.are they saying that are once again politicians finding themselves

:08:19. > :08:21.paying tribute to the work of the emergency services because they're

:08:22. > :08:25.having to deal with another significant incident. In a statement

:08:26. > :08:28.this morning the Prime Minister said her thoughts were with those working

:08:29. > :08:32.tirelessly in very difficult circumstances. She said she was

:08:33. > :08:36.deeply saddened by the loss of life. As you would expect she's been kept

:08:37. > :08:41.briefed throughout the day, there was a cross government meeting to

:08:42. > :08:43.coordinate the government response and make sure the emergency services

:08:44. > :08:47.are getting the support they need. That was chaired by the police and

:08:48. > :08:50.Fire Minister Nick Hurd and he gave an update on what happened at that

:08:51. > :08:55.meeting just as it concluded earlier. There are people out there

:08:56. > :09:00.who will need reassurance. We have discussed with local authorities and

:09:01. > :09:04.the Fire Service a process whereby we seek to identify towers that

:09:05. > :09:09.might be in a similar process of refurbishment, and run a system of

:09:10. > :09:13.checks as quickly as possible to give reassurance to people. The

:09:14. > :09:17.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has already suggested they may be

:09:18. > :09:20.questioned over whether enough preventative measures were taken in

:09:21. > :09:23.the past and whether or not local authorities, some of whom have

:09:24. > :09:27.responsibility for these tower blocks in the UK, had adequate

:09:28. > :09:31.resourcing to make sure all the relevant fire regulations were in

:09:32. > :09:34.place. But he said questions would come tomorrow because the focus now

:09:35. > :09:41.is on getting the support to those who needed. This is Jeremy Corbyn.

:09:42. > :09:47.Totally shocked by, this is the worst nightmare anyone can think of,

:09:48. > :09:51.fire in a tower block and sympathy, support, solidarity to all those

:09:52. > :09:56.stuck in the tower or who have managed to be rescued or who have

:09:57. > :09:58.lost loved ones or do not know what has happened to their friends and

:09:59. > :10:03.family. And a huge thank you to the Fire Service, police and ambulance

:10:04. > :10:07.and all other emergency services that got there so quickly. We are

:10:08. > :10:11.likely to hear more questions about what could or should have been done

:10:12. > :10:15.in the coming days but for now the focus from politicians is on those

:10:16. > :10:20.who in the immediate aftermath of this huge incident are needing great

:10:21. > :10:25.support. The fire brigade just moving in,

:10:26. > :10:31.another control unit behind us there. On its way to the perimeter

:10:32. > :10:35.at Grenfell Tower. Just to return to politics for a second because Tim

:10:36. > :10:39.Farron was under a certain amount of political pressure after the

:10:40. > :10:41.election result and today we understand he has stood down and

:10:42. > :10:48.made a statement. Let's have a listen to that. Journalists have

:10:49. > :10:52.every right to ask what they see fit. The consequences of focus on my

:10:53. > :10:58.face is that I found myself torn between living as a faithful

:10:59. > :11:04.Christian and serving as a leader. A better, wiser person than me may

:11:05. > :11:07.have been able to deal with this war successfully, to remain faithful to

:11:08. > :11:13.Christ while leading a political party in the current environment. To

:11:14. > :11:17.be a political leader especially a progressive, liberal party in 2017

:11:18. > :11:20.and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the

:11:21. > :11:27.teachings of the Bible has felt impossible for me.

:11:28. > :11:31.Tim Farron speaking earlier. Standing down as the leader of the

:11:32. > :11:35.Liberal Democrats. And leadership battle will now pursue. Let's return

:11:36. > :11:39.to local politics. There will be a big debate about the kind of social

:11:40. > :11:43.housing that we should provide in cities like London. Professor Peter

:11:44. > :11:51.Reid 's is the city planning officer for the City of London. Good evening

:11:52. > :11:54.to you. Good evening and can I start by adding my sympathy to those

:11:55. > :11:57.affected by this tragedy and my admiration for those of the

:11:58. > :12:03.emergency services who have put themselves in danger to help. Let's

:12:04. > :12:09.just talk a little bit about high-rise buildings. Many people

:12:10. > :12:13.might be in high-rise buildings in London tonight and will feel very

:12:14. > :12:17.nervous. I shall be returning after this interview and going to bed on

:12:18. > :12:22.the 27th floor of a high-rise block in the City of London and I will

:12:23. > :12:28.sleep soundly tonight. Because high-rise buildings are not

:12:29. > :12:33.inherently dangerous. Why are buildings like this, someone told me

:12:34. > :12:37.it was built in 1973 so it is quite old but had it been built a few

:12:38. > :12:40.years earlier there been concerns about its structural integrity. This

:12:41. > :12:45.is still standing despite the intensity of the fire, why is that?

:12:46. > :12:50.The method of construction has a lot to do with this, if you have a

:12:51. > :12:52.building with a concrete core which are good building should have

:12:53. > :12:56.because that concrete shaft in the middle protect both were escaping

:12:57. > :13:02.through the stairs from the fire around them, it also reinforces the

:13:03. > :13:06.building and allows it to stand. Buildings have for considerable

:13:07. > :13:08.length of time been designed so they do not collapse even in an intense

:13:09. > :13:14.fire like this. But of course many other things can be improved in

:13:15. > :13:16.buildings and as technology has progressed, so buildings have become

:13:17. > :13:23.even safer. For instance the building I live in, even though it

:13:24. > :13:25.is a residential, is fitted with sprinklers which is something quite

:13:26. > :13:33.rare in residential buildings. And has only been quite a recent

:13:34. > :13:37.introduction. Grenfell Tower for those who have been watching us this

:13:38. > :13:41.evening, this is how it looks, blackened, a shell of what it was.

:13:42. > :13:45.And of course structural engineers will need to keep an eye on it over

:13:46. > :13:49.the course of the next 24 hours at and at the moment is structurally

:13:50. > :13:54.safe. You're watching BBC News. We're going to be continuing with

:13:55. > :13:59.our coverage here from Kensington this evening. Plenty more reaction

:14:00. > :14:01.on why this fire happened and what kind of things can be changed in the

:14:02. > :14:22.future to stop it happening again. I think we can bring Professor Rhys

:14:23. > :14:27.Bacchin. -- back in. We were just talking about these older buildings.

:14:28. > :14:31.But a high-rise building like this if it was being built today, would

:14:32. > :14:34.it just have one stairwell exit? Yes, the building that I live in

:14:35. > :14:40.which was completed about three years ago and has 280 apartments,

:14:41. > :14:44.has only one staircase. Of course the staircase is contained within a

:14:45. > :14:48.concrete shaft to protect it from fire and smoke doors are fitted to

:14:49. > :14:51.keep the smoke out of the escape stairs. What perhaps might be

:14:52. > :15:00.different these days is to have special fire lit, taken over by the

:15:01. > :15:05.Fire Service in an emergency. -- Fire lifts. Of course people must

:15:06. > :15:08.not use lifts an emergency but a lift is often provided these days

:15:09. > :15:11.for the Fire Service to get the building quickly without having to

:15:12. > :15:15.run against the flow of people trying to escape down the staircase

:15:16. > :15:21.which is often a great impediment to emergency services and to those

:15:22. > :15:27.trying to escape. Good to get your thoughts, thank you. And plenty more

:15:28. > :15:31.reaction from here in North Kensington. The building behind me

:15:32. > :15:34.continuing to smoulder and the fire brigade still working on the

:15:35. > :15:41.building. Let's get some weather news with Matt Taylor.

:15:42. > :15:48.It has been a day of above average temperatures across much of western

:15:49. > :15:51.Europe. And here in the UK 27 achieved at Heathrow Airport. Across

:15:52. > :15:55.Spain and France the heat remains tomorrow but in the UK the cold

:15:56. > :16:00.front is heading our way to the west. That pushes into Northern

:16:01. > :16:04.Ireland through the night with outbreaks of rain and breeze. But

:16:05. > :16:10.away from that most bases drive. And it will be quite humid for the vast

:16:11. > :16:16.majority tonight. Not dropping much below the mid-teens if at all. So

:16:17. > :16:21.into Thursday morning, the far west of Wales, West of Scotland, cloudy

:16:22. > :16:25.with outbreaks of rain but brighter skies moving in quickly through the

:16:26. > :16:30.morning. Then showers returning for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

:16:31. > :16:37.Temperatures pushing up quite quickly through the east of England.

:16:38. > :16:40.It is a fresher day compared with today across the Channel Islands,

:16:41. > :16:47.south-west England and Wales but it should be dry and sunny in the

:16:48. > :16:54.afternoon and pleasant. 22 degrees by mid afternoon around London but

:16:55. > :16:58.temptress picking at 25 of four things turn fresher later on.

:16:59. > :17:00.Through Northern Ireland and Scotland the shower is more

:17:01. > :17:12.widespread and pushing through on that breeze. As we go through

:17:13. > :17:15.Thursday night and into Friday, most dry, slightly fresher night than the

:17:16. > :17:20.night were about to have but temperatures still in double figures

:17:21. > :17:23.for the majority. A bright start with good sunny spells, clouding

:17:24. > :17:29.over in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the North of England. Some rain

:17:30. > :17:33.around in Scotland. Some brighter skies into the east of Northern

:17:34. > :17:39.Ireland, lifting temperatures to around 20 degrees through the

:17:40. > :17:43.afternoon. Into the weekend high pressure is building from the south,

:17:44. > :17:48.still some cloud and occasional rain in the west of Scotland, perhaps

:17:49. > :17:53.north-west England. Elsewhere sunny and pleasant. And some spots of rain

:17:54. > :17:57.around on Sunday but getting hotter. We could have first 30 degrees in

:17:58. > :18:04.the South East of England. I'm Christian Fraser in West London,

:18:05. > :18:09.where a huge fire has swept through a tower block killing 12

:18:10. > :18:12.people - many residents Up to 600 people may have been

:18:13. > :18:19.in the flats when the blaze broke out in the early hours

:18:20. > :18:26.of the morning. They read to ring 999, there is a

:18:27. > :18:32.dedicated line for this incident. Eyewitnesses say they saw people

:18:33. > :18:34.trapped in their flats, shouting from their windows,

:18:35. > :18:36.trying to throw their There was smoke everywhere,

:18:37. > :18:40.literally everywhere. There was people downstairs,

:18:41. > :18:43.there was bits of the cladding falling off the block

:18:44. > :18:45.that was on fire. The London Fire Brigade desperately

:18:46. > :18:57.struggled to reach the upper floors, but were repelled by the heat

:18:58. > :19:00.and falling debris. Around 70 people are being treated

:19:01. > :19:03.in six London hospitals, 18 of them Residents are sheltering in nearby

:19:04. > :19:07.community centres, while others The Archbishop of Canterbury praises

:19:08. > :19:15.the response of people who've offered food,

:19:16. > :19:30.water and clothes to those People filling out churches using

:19:31. > :19:32.the buildings, using horse, whatever centres they can find, bringing

:19:33. > :19:37.things, working together. Fire crews say it will still be some

:19:38. > :19:41.hours before it's out. We'll bring you full

:19:42. > :20:16.details in moment. The plumes of smoke are still rising

:20:17. > :20:19.into the sky this evening. This is Glenn Foot shower, a shadow of what

:20:20. > :20:26.it once was, a black and charred carcass. It is structurally sound

:20:27. > :20:29.for the moment but engineers are keeping an eye on that and the

:20:30. > :20:32.firefighters who have been here through the course of the day are

:20:33. > :20:36.still working tirelessly on the building to put up a small pockets

:20:37. > :20:42.of fire you can see burning in the middle of the building. It will be,

:20:43. > :20:46.I would think, a day or so before they will be able to work through

:20:47. > :20:51.the various apartments that are, at the moment unreachable in that

:20:52. > :20:55.apartment block. We know 12 people have been killed. Over 70 people

:20:56. > :21:00.were taken to hospital and we have been told by the London Ambulance

:21:01. > :21:04.Service, 18 people remain in critical condition. The police are

:21:05. > :21:10.warning us there may be more victims in the hours ahead. So more sad news

:21:11. > :21:14.expected here at North Kensington. Let's take a look at the

:21:15. > :21:19.surroundings and bring you up to speed with where we are in North

:21:20. > :21:26.Kensington. This is Grenfell Tower, part of a housing complex near the

:21:27. > :21:32.Westfield shopping centre. It is 24 stories high and in it where 120

:21:33. > :21:37.flats which were arranged over 20 residential floors. Up to 600 people

:21:38. > :21:41.may have been inside when the fire broke out. Most would have been

:21:42. > :21:48.asleep because the fire broke out just before 1am. The cause of the

:21:49. > :21:53.fire isn't known but we know it the alarm was raised just before 1am and

:21:54. > :21:58.the fire crews were on the scene six minutes after being called. Over 200

:21:59. > :22:02.firefighters working around the clock since then. Up to 20 hours

:22:03. > :22:08.they have been working to put out the fires.

:22:09. > :22:14.It is a tragedy that plays to our darkest fears.

:22:15. > :22:22.There was people downstairs, bits of cladding falling off the block.

:22:23. > :22:29.The fire started between midnight and 1am.

:22:30. > :22:32.The screams from the flats and the acrid smell of burning,

:22:33. > :22:41.It was just people jumping out, literally.

:22:42. > :22:44.And putting sheets down to try to get out of the building.

:22:45. > :22:46.Windows exploding, big, massive pieces of debris

:22:47. > :22:53.We came here, saw people jumping off.

:22:54. > :22:56.People had jumped off because they had no other option.

:22:57. > :23:02.Someone was on fire and he jumped too.

:23:03. > :23:09.Some people picked up their children and threw them out for the police

:23:10. > :23:12.to pick them up because there was no other way out of the building.

:23:13. > :23:17.I saw kids at the window shouting, help me, help me, I can't breathe.

:23:18. > :23:24.And all these people have lost people in their lives and I know

:23:25. > :23:38.The fire raced through the 24 storey council block in this deprived part

:23:39. > :23:41.On the seventh floor, this family were led to safety

:23:42. > :23:44.when a fire officer made it up to their flat.

:23:45. > :23:46.There was smoke everywhere, people screaming.

:23:47. > :23:50.There was a fireman there going, get out, get out.

:23:51. > :23:53.I ran back in in my boxer shorts, grabbed the little girl,

:23:54. > :23:56.put her under my dressing gown to cover her face from the smoke,

:23:57. > :23:59.got my girlfriend up, running down, got to the fourth floor

:24:00. > :24:03.This mother and her six-year-old son were also trapped

:24:04. > :24:07.For a moment, she thought her best option was to jump

:24:08. > :24:10.through the window with her child in her arms.

:24:11. > :24:14.For a split second, I had that temptation to jump over

:24:15. > :24:22.You actually thought about jumping from the building?

:24:23. > :24:27.And then your husband grabbed you and took you out?

:24:28. > :24:33.Yes, otherwise, my second thought was to jump.

:24:34. > :24:38.Many residents have complained to me that the fire alarm was too quiet

:24:39. > :24:41.to hear and that the blaze raced from the bottom to the top of

:24:42. > :24:48.All the time we have lived here, they have said if there is a fire,

:24:49. > :24:51.you have to stay in the flat, the fire can't penetrate

:24:52. > :24:54.If we had done that, we would have perished.

:24:55. > :24:56.There was no way that was stopping no fire.

:24:57. > :24:58.Residents told me that they had complained to the authorities

:24:59. > :25:00.that the recently refurbished building was a disaster

:25:01. > :25:07.We tried to take a lot of things to our local MP.

:25:08. > :25:25.Because if one fire happened, we knew that this would happen.

:25:26. > :25:28.Deep poverty and extraordinary wealth live by side-by-side in this

:25:29. > :25:35.The block was home to some of Kensington's poorest families.

:25:36. > :25:38.With dawn, grim, is expected news, that lives have been lost.

:25:39. > :25:44.Many people, numb with shock, frantically searched to find missing

:25:45. > :25:47.This woman's sister and 12-year-old nephew were unaccounted for.

:25:48. > :26:07.As well as the smoke and the smell of burning,

:26:08. > :26:09.numb, shock and tension hangs over this area.

:26:10. > :26:12.In the 21st century, in a country with some

:26:13. > :26:14.of the strictest fire regulations in the world, a desperate tragedy

:26:15. > :26:32.Well into the morning, the crowds watching the horror

:26:33. > :26:34.unfolding in front of them reported seeing people still

:26:35. > :26:48.A man was eventually brought out by the emergency services at noon.

:26:49. > :26:51.This off-duty nurse helped tend to some of the injured

:26:52. > :26:53.I have seen some things, but today...

:26:54. > :27:01.There are mothers that have come out and lost their children.

:27:02. > :27:04.There are firefighters that have come out injured.

:27:05. > :27:07.We don't know if they are even going to come out safe.

:27:08. > :27:14.People have lost their homes, children have seen things,

:27:15. > :27:18.We just need to rebuild as a community now.

:27:19. > :27:21.As the community realised the enormity of what had happened,

:27:22. > :27:25.This woman went to her wardrobe, grabbed a bag of her own clothes

:27:26. > :27:35.A bag of clothes, to me, is nothing, when I can help somebody else.

:27:36. > :27:39.This is a community where a lot of people don't have a lot.

:27:40. > :27:48.We are heartbroken for our community.

:27:49. > :27:56.This is a disaster for this community.

:27:57. > :27:59.But we are pulling together, the people that have nothing,

:28:00. > :28:03.we are giving things to people that have nothing.

:28:04. > :28:05.Sadly I can confirm that there are now 12

:28:06. > :28:09.people that have died, that we know of.

:28:10. > :28:14.This will be a long and complex recovery operation.

:28:15. > :28:17.I do anticipate that the number of fatalities will, sadly,

:28:18. > :28:23.This is a neighbourhood that feels ignored.

:28:24. > :28:35.We have a number of high-rise buildings here and in

:28:36. > :28:49.We do have to meet stringent safety standards, and in a refurbishment

:28:50. > :28:51.there will be a thorough inspection by the fire authorities.

:28:52. > :28:55.It clearly hasn't, we will have to get the bottom

:28:56. > :28:58.The Mayor of London promised there will be a thorough

:28:59. > :29:00.and independent investigation into what happened.

:29:01. > :29:02.My thoughts and prayers, as I am sure the thoughts

:29:03. > :29:05.and prayers the entire country, with the family and friends of those

:29:06. > :29:07.in the building and affected by this and horrific fire.

:29:08. > :29:11.I would also pay tribute to the amazing emergency services,

:29:12. > :29:15.from the Fire Service, we have more than 250 firefighters,

:29:16. > :29:18.many of whom have been here since the beginning.

:29:19. > :29:24.The streets of North Kensington are littered with ashes.

:29:25. > :29:27.The charred ashes of homework of a school child.

:29:28. > :29:30.But the neighbourhood is also scarred by grief that will not

:29:31. > :29:51.Quite a lot of activity here tonight. Many of the Fire Services

:29:52. > :29:56.are changing over. You did point out in my interview with the deputy fire

:29:57. > :30:00.chief, I did refer to firemen, but there have been men and women,

:30:01. > :30:02.firefighters going into the building. I am happy to correct

:30:03. > :30:05.that. Here with me now is Carrie Hirst

:30:06. > :30:07.from the Kensington She manages a project called

:30:08. > :30:11.Community Champions in the local area and they've been

:30:12. > :30:22.helping out today. We are funded by public health and

:30:23. > :30:28.we are based in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. We are

:30:29. > :30:32.community hubs so the project I manages for the Notting Dale Ward,

:30:33. > :30:36.which is here and we work with the residents who live on the estates.

:30:37. > :30:43.Obviously today, the news has been very upsetting. Tell us about some

:30:44. > :30:48.of the people you have come across, they have lost everything? They

:30:49. > :30:53.have, but community spirit, as ever is an incredible thing. All the

:30:54. > :30:58.local organisations in the area have been inundated with donations and

:30:59. > :31:02.offers of support. We had so many volunteers are all desperate to help

:31:03. > :31:08.however they can. It has been incredible. Are you comfortable that

:31:09. > :31:13.the night everybody has a bed? There are lots of different centres in the

:31:14. > :31:17.area offering space. I am sleeping at the Westway tonight, where we

:31:18. > :31:27.have a whole group of people bear. The James Hunt and ruby Portobello.

:31:28. > :31:32.You have camp beds? Yes, mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags. We are not

:31:33. > :31:37.sure what to expect. They are being referred to as by housing

:31:38. > :31:45.organisations and friends and family who went affected by the fire, but

:31:46. > :31:49.they were inside the cordoned. Hundreds of people but don't have a

:31:50. > :31:54.home the night, so we will be working through the night. Are there

:31:55. > :32:00.people coming from centre to centre still looking for people? There are.

:32:01. > :32:04.But I think by now, the majority of people have an answer or at least

:32:05. > :32:08.they know what to do in order to find that missing person. There is a

:32:09. > :32:13.number they can call, the centres have information and there is people

:32:14. > :32:17.in the street to help. Lots of people around the country want to

:32:18. > :32:20.help. It sounds like you have what you need in the immediate term,

:32:21. > :32:28.food, drink and clothing, what can they do? Keep updated with what is

:32:29. > :32:34.going on through social media, to Kensington town Hall website, the

:32:35. > :32:40.volunteer Centre will be updating Twitter. And we will be here on the

:32:41. > :32:44.ground updating what's necessary, what the organisations need, what

:32:45. > :32:52.the residents need. But for now, we have a lot of donations and a lot of

:32:53. > :32:57.manpower. Thank you for talking to us. It is good work you are doing

:32:58. > :33:01.and I'm sure you will be busy in days ahead.

:33:02. > :33:04.Well, throughout the night stories emerged of people who'd

:33:05. > :33:06.escaped the tower block and watched the fire as it swept

:33:07. > :33:13.Many are now being sheltered in nearby community centres.

:33:14. > :33:17.And that's where family and friends of those

:33:18. > :33:20.who are missing are also heading, going from centre to centre

:33:21. > :33:24.Our Special Correspondent Lucy Manning has been talking

:33:25. > :33:26.to the families caught up in the tragedy.

:33:27. > :33:29.The air was punctuated with the sound of crying.

:33:30. > :33:40.They gathered outside the community centre.

:33:41. > :33:44.The one thing nobody could offer was good news.

:33:45. > :33:51.For this family, it was, understandably, to much.

:33:52. > :33:54.My mum, my sister, her daughters and husband.

:33:55. > :34:04.I don't know if they are out, we don't have any information.

:34:05. > :34:09.Susan gave us this picture of her three smiling neices.

:34:10. > :34:22.You haven't been able to contact them?

:34:23. > :34:25.I phoned my sister when she was in, all I could hear was screaming.

:34:26. > :34:28.I was trying to tell her, get out, get to the nearest fire exit.

:34:29. > :34:39.The police officers heard me shouting on the phone.

:34:40. > :34:42.I really just wanted to go in there, basically, do something.

:34:43. > :34:49.In the last hour, she heard news that someone might have

:34:50. > :34:59.After the panic of the night, the day brought only silence.

:35:00. > :35:05.I haven't seen my brother-in-law, his wife and three children.

:35:06. > :35:07.The children are aged 20, the boy is 20.

:35:08. > :35:15.He spoke to them as they were trapped.

:35:16. > :35:25.She said her husband was talking to the emergency people.

:35:26. > :35:28.They said, they are coming to get us, but the heat

:35:29. > :35:36.I said, get a wet blanket, put the kids on the floor

:35:37. > :35:40.She said, we can't do it, because the smoke is killing us,

:35:41. > :35:44.The smoke is coming through the doors.

:35:45. > :35:46.She is keeping covering it, but it is heavy.

:35:47. > :35:48.That was the last time we have heard from her.

:35:49. > :35:51.For those on the lower floors that did make it out,

:35:52. > :36:01.I woke up at about 12.45, hearing, help me, a woman screaming, my baby,

:36:02. > :36:16.The police were knocking on the doors, evacuate, evacuate.

:36:17. > :36:20.We felt we had to get the hell out of here, it is going up.

:36:21. > :36:23.Ed was saved by his friend calling him and telling him to leave.

:36:24. > :36:27.The smoke was so thick, you couldn't see anything.

:36:28. > :36:31.I got three quarters of the way and then I was using my hands

:36:32. > :36:36.I began thinking to myself, this is going to be me, you know?

:36:37. > :36:39.I'm going to die of smoke inhalation.

:36:40. > :36:42.There was actually a fireman lying on the ground.

:36:43. > :36:53.He just touched my foot and led me to wear the fire exit was.

:36:54. > :36:59.He just touched my foot and led me to where the fire exit was.

:37:00. > :37:01.Ed was instrumental in raising concerns about the safety

:37:02. > :37:08.This accident never needed to happen.

:37:09. > :37:10.If people listened to what we were saying,

:37:11. > :37:12.what the blog were saying, what members of the

:37:13. > :37:25.Inside the centre, those waiting for news or have

:37:26. > :37:28.lost their homes are gathered downstairs in the hall.

:37:29. > :37:30.As you can imagine, it is a fairly distressing situation.

:37:31. > :37:36.At times, people are sobbing as they wait for news.

:37:37. > :37:39.News that, at this stage, will possibly not be good news.

:37:40. > :37:45.They are getting help with housing, with food, and the medical help.

:37:46. > :37:50.Now, it is not just the burned-out building that looms over this

:37:51. > :37:52.community, but the fear that they will hear that many more

:37:53. > :38:10.There may be plenty of sad days ahead but there is anger as well.

:38:11. > :38:14.There were concerns about the safety of this building as far back as

:38:15. > :38:25.November. Some of you may have seen on social media, excerpts from a

:38:26. > :38:30.blog. The grand fell action group said there were problems with entry

:38:31. > :38:35.and exit, they have problems with the improvement works, the

:38:36. > :38:40.evacuation procedures, emergency lighting and access for emergency

:38:41. > :38:44.vehicles. After the fire, the group posted today, all our warnings fell

:38:45. > :38:48.on deaf ears and we predicted a catastrophe like this was inevitable

:38:49. > :38:58.and just a matter of time. The criticism was aimed at the group who

:38:59. > :39:01.manages the block. It is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea

:39:02. > :39:06.management organisation and on behalf of them, Robert Blake has

:39:07. > :39:11.given this statement. It is hard for me to comment about anything at the

:39:12. > :39:15.moment because of the investigation. If you listen to the police and the

:39:16. > :39:20.fire brigade, just before I came here, they are saying the same

:39:21. > :39:24.thing. They are still putting the fire out, still trying to find homes

:39:25. > :39:31.for people to go to the night. Still trying to find everybody. What we

:39:32. > :39:35.are trying to do is on the ground, put support in place to address

:39:36. > :39:41.these things. That is my key focus. All the rest we will be addressing

:39:42. > :39:46.in the mastication. Do you think the stay in the flat instruction was

:39:47. > :39:50.partly to blame for the loss of life? I don't know how to answer

:39:51. > :39:55.that because I don't know the consequences, where or how the lives

:39:56. > :39:59.were lost. All I am saying is, across London and other places, you

:40:00. > :40:08.have a staple policy because that is what the fire brigade advise. There

:40:09. > :40:13.was a message to inside housing about the blog not being inspected

:40:14. > :40:18.for 18 month well the inspection took place, were certain things

:40:19. > :40:21.behind schedule, do you think? I cannot mention specifics because

:40:22. > :40:28.they will be looked into. It doesn't sound like anything I know. I know

:40:29. > :40:31.some of the alarms had to be hard-wired in the flats, I just

:40:32. > :40:37.wonder if that work had been completed? Any work that was done

:40:38. > :40:41.during the refurbishment was completed and signed off and that is

:40:42. > :40:46.our position. That is what we will be able to show as we go through

:40:47. > :40:52.this enquiry. So there were all hard-wired, the alarms? I cannot

:40:53. > :40:56.really answer at the moment. I don't know the details. I am just trying

:40:57. > :41:03.to provide assurance and make sure people are safe. Do you know how

:41:04. > :41:08.many people were in at the time? We wouldn't know that, 140 flats,

:41:09. > :41:12.people come and go. We still try to find out where these people are

:41:13. > :41:16.because they were in different places. That was Robert Black from

:41:17. > :41:21.the Kensington and Chelsea tenant management organisation. We are

:41:22. > :41:28.expecting to hear from the Prime Minister in the next few minutes. I

:41:29. > :41:32.can tell you she is promising a full and proper investigation. She has

:41:33. > :41:36.been kept abreast of events here through the course of the day. So a

:41:37. > :41:38.full and proper investigation is what the Prime Minister is

:41:39. > :41:39.promising. Here with me now is

:41:40. > :41:49.Professor Tony Travers We have just been listening to

:41:50. > :41:54.Robert Black from the management organisation which tells us how

:41:55. > :42:00.these blocks are run, it is a complex organisational structure?

:42:01. > :42:04.Yes, people will remember councils running council houses. In some

:42:05. > :42:09.cases, local authorities gave over the housing to housing associations,

:42:10. > :42:15.not-for-profit companies and in this case and a number of others, to a

:42:16. > :42:21.tenant management organisation, arms length from the council, separate

:42:22. > :42:25.and responsible for the work on it. Nevertheless, running the housing as

:42:26. > :42:30.if for the Council. So there is still a link back to the council

:42:31. > :42:33.because it is their property. It is them who are responsible for

:42:34. > :42:39.nominating tenants into the building. OK, but where does the

:42:40. > :42:44.book fall? It is complicated and too early to draw any conclusions

:42:45. > :42:46.because in an incident like this, the Fire Brigade will have

:42:47. > :42:52.responsibilities for giving advice on how a building like this should

:42:53. > :42:57.be protected against fire. The organisation that runs it, the

:42:58. > :43:00.management organisation will be responsible for reacting to that and

:43:01. > :43:05.then the Fire Brigade to inspecting that. All of this within central

:43:06. > :43:08.government setting rules to do with building standards. When the Prime

:43:09. > :43:12.Minister promises an enquiry, it will have to look at all of these

:43:13. > :43:21.aspects of it, because you have different levels of government

:43:22. > :43:23.involved. Obviously, there have been concerns expressed by the residents,

:43:24. > :43:28.which we were just talking about. What happens if a group like this

:43:29. > :43:32.just ignores them? We mustn't prejudge any of this because I am

:43:33. > :43:36.sure any group of tenants living in a block like this will have

:43:37. > :43:41.complaints from time to time. An enquiry would have to look at the

:43:42. > :43:46.complaints made and see whether there was an appropriate response to

:43:47. > :43:51.the concerns as expressed. That is why an enquiry, first by the Fire

:43:52. > :43:54.Brigade I am guessing, and then, as the Prime Minister has announced, is

:43:55. > :44:02.essential to get to the bottom of what happened. We need to look at

:44:03. > :44:05.this over a short time, but with detailed enquiries so it is possible

:44:06. > :44:09.to see where the responsibility lies. The MP for Hammersmith, who

:44:10. > :44:14.was with me earlier was saying it is going to get more complex in social

:44:15. > :44:17.housing blocks like this because of the Right to Buy scheme. When you

:44:18. > :44:23.have an organisation which manages the block, they do renovations for

:44:24. > :44:28.the whole block but when you have somebody who has their own

:44:29. > :44:35.apartment, maybe they don't do the same renovations as the organisation

:44:36. > :44:37.might? It is possible. In other homes, there will be different

:44:38. > :44:43.safety standards than there would be inside a council house. It is all

:44:44. > :44:49.these aspects of this complex issue which will have to be reviewed in

:44:50. > :44:53.order to get to the bottom of why such a tragedy could possibly occur.

:44:54. > :44:58.Different parts of government and their responsibilities will have to

:44:59. > :45:03.be investigated. On a huge renovation project we saw a year

:45:04. > :45:08.ago, who is it ultimately that approves the renovation and signs it

:45:09. > :45:19.off? Is it the group of the council? I cannot answer that for 100%, I

:45:20. > :45:26.thought it would be the tenant's group, the tenant management group

:45:27. > :45:29.would do that. But again, that is something that will be investigated.

:45:30. > :45:47.OK, thank you very much. Obviously there will be lessons

:45:48. > :45:51.learned and to see if it could be avoided. There have been reviews

:45:52. > :45:54.taken place in the past and we hoped lessons would be learned. Tom

:45:55. > :46:08.Edwards has been looking back. Knowing full well this isn't going

:46:09. > :46:13.to end well, it is heartbreaking. Angela lives on the 19th floor in

:46:14. > :46:19.the block opposite Grenfell Tower. After last night she is concerned

:46:20. > :46:25.about the fire risk in her own building. The first thing that came

:46:26. > :46:30.to my mind at 3am what is that security protocol for this building

:46:31. > :46:34.it some other similar happen? What would he do, word with the go? This

:46:35. > :46:41.raises questions about London's housing stock. The last major fatal

:46:42. > :46:45.fire was a Lakanal House in Southwark in 2009. Six people died.

:46:46. > :46:49.After that the coroner made recommendations that the government

:46:50. > :46:55.should clarify if residents should stay put a get out if there is a

:46:56. > :46:58.fire. Councils should retrofit sprinklers and simplify building

:46:59. > :47:04.regulations about what can be changed. The chances of getting a

:47:05. > :47:09.fire are very low... In 2010 the London assembly also highlighted

:47:10. > :47:13.concerns about the capital's high-rise housing stock. We found

:47:14. > :47:19.there is a relatively low risk of having a fire in a tall building.

:47:20. > :47:22.You are fairly safe. But the big problem is, if there is fired then

:47:23. > :47:27.advise is often not given about the right way to behave. Landlords are

:47:28. > :47:29.probably not giving enough information to their tenants and

:47:30. > :47:37.perhaps councils not giving enough advice to the landlords. According

:47:38. > :47:42.to City Hall, about 8% of London's population live in blocks of flats

:47:43. > :47:47.over 11 stories tall, around 690,000 people. Most were built in the late

:47:48. > :47:54.60s and early 70s, but more are now being planned for the future as the

:47:55. > :47:58.capital grows. There have been changes, Southwark Council says it

:47:59. > :48:02.gives a regular fire risk assessment to its blocks. The fire unions and

:48:03. > :48:07.campaigners have, for many years, been calling for the government to

:48:08. > :48:11.review building regulations. Lessons have not been learned. Today is an

:48:12. > :48:16.absolute tragedy and it is caused by the lack of proper regulation of

:48:17. > :48:19.refurbishment standards. The government have been pressed for a

:48:20. > :48:26.number of years by the all-party Parliamentary committee on safety.

:48:27. > :48:30.To do a review of the building regulations to test the integrity of

:48:31. > :48:34.materials that are used in refurbishment is and they have

:48:35. > :48:37.continually put this off. The government says that work is still

:48:38. > :48:41.ongoing and checks will now be carried out on blocks going through

:48:42. > :48:48.similar refurbishment. But there is now anger and questions. What

:48:49. > :48:52.happened in Lakanal House, after it had been refurbished, the

:48:53. > :48:55.refurbishment had compromised the fire compartmentalised nation and

:48:56. > :49:00.the fire spread. It looks like that is what has happened in Granville

:49:01. > :49:04.house, it has been refurbished and the compartmentalisation of the fire

:49:05. > :49:08.has been compromised so it has spread and people have lost their

:49:09. > :49:13.lives. There has been a lot of publicity around what should be done

:49:14. > :49:19.about external cladding and what should be done about tower blocks

:49:20. > :49:24.being fire proved inside properly and a fire should not be spreading

:49:25. > :49:28.beyond the flat where it breaks out. People should be able to be

:49:29. > :49:31.evacuated and wait for the Fire Brigade to do with the incident. It

:49:32. > :49:36.is difficult to see why this has happened and there is not many

:49:37. > :49:40.excuses for it. This man lives in the block opposite and hasn't been

:49:41. > :49:46.able to contact a friend who lives in Grunfeld tower. If you move to

:49:47. > :49:51.the right, you can see where the smoke is about now. That is where

:49:52. > :49:54.she used to live. While it is unclear why this fire happened, it

:49:55. > :50:03.is very clear that safeguards failed.

:50:04. > :50:08.There has been plenty of finger-pointing,...

:50:09. > :50:10.Let's speak now to Graham Fieldhouse, a consultant fire safety

:50:11. > :50:13.expert for social housing and was also in the London Fire Brigade high

:50:14. > :50:24.Why'd you think lessons perhaps have not been learned? One of the issues,

:50:25. > :50:28.and our condolences go out to the families, one of the issues that

:50:29. > :50:32.came up was the surface spread of fire from the outside of the

:50:33. > :50:39.building and it would appear something similar is the case so why

:50:40. > :50:42.checks done, what fire testing certification was in place and did

:50:43. > :50:46.the people who are looking at the testing did they have the necessary

:50:47. > :50:52.skills and expertise to understand what they were looking at? The other

:50:53. > :50:56.questions is the fire doors. Even if the fire hit a flat, each of the

:50:57. > :51:00.flats is like a shoe box, they should have given you a 30 minute

:51:01. > :51:04.protection so when you've stuck next to each other, each should be

:51:05. > :51:12.protected 30 minutes so the flat front doors should have given

:51:13. > :51:16.protection. Witness reports say it was full of smoke, where did that

:51:17. > :51:19.come from, what the Windows on the floor is causing the smoke to get

:51:20. > :51:25.there was at the doors themselves and the other question is people

:51:26. > :51:29.saying they did not hear any alarms or have alarms. That should have

:51:30. > :51:35.been a minimum LD grade three F system. That is the typical one you

:51:36. > :51:37.might have at home, battery operated stuck on the ceiling. The

:51:38. > :51:44.recommendations would be for an elderly Grade II, grade D system

:51:45. > :51:50.which would have been a heat in the kitchen and smoke in the hallway so

:51:51. > :51:55.if we had those. We will come back to but we are expecting a statement

:51:56. > :52:00.from May which will come in about now I think. She says she wants a

:52:01. > :52:14.full investigation so let's listen to what Theresa May have to say.

:52:15. > :52:22.We have some technical problems with that. We will crash into that if and

:52:23. > :52:26.when it happens. While we are waiting for the Prime Minister, I

:52:27. > :52:30.might interrupt you again, what do you think, you alluded to it, you

:52:31. > :52:34.think it was the panels on the side of this building that made the fire

:52:35. > :52:42.jump as quickly as it did from floor to floor? The concrete as we can

:52:43. > :52:46.see, does not really burn. Something has to have set the fire in the

:52:47. > :52:50.manner it did and the ferocity it did and one would think either the

:52:51. > :52:55.panelling that was used or the packing behind the panelling was not

:52:56. > :52:59.too required fire spread standard and that is what we need to look at.

:53:00. > :53:03.Is it acceptable for a building like this behind us to not have water

:53:04. > :53:08.sprinklers because we all working big office blocks and above my desk

:53:09. > :53:12.at the BBC there is a sprinkler system that will kick in if there

:53:13. > :53:19.was a fire, why does a building like this not have one? In some countries

:53:20. > :53:24.in Scotland, it insists on sprinkler systems now, the UK has been

:53:25. > :53:28.encouraging sprinkler systems for quite some time although sprinklers

:53:29. > :53:31.themselves will not stop a fire from killing someone in the flat of

:53:32. > :53:39.origin because they do not usually go off until the heat in the flat is

:53:40. > :53:43.raised to a level. It would give firefighters more time to get to the

:53:44. > :53:50.upper floors and save more people. Absolutely. Why are we not insisting

:53:51. > :53:53.on proper fire doors because that may have been an issue, it is an

:53:54. > :54:00.issue I have come across were people remove the door closes so doors with

:54:01. > :54:04.integral closes and have the certification, that is what we want,

:54:05. > :54:14.not global certification which people use which means the door has

:54:15. > :54:19.been tested individually. With your consultant fire safety hat on, what

:54:20. > :54:23.would the investigators look at and where might they look when they

:54:24. > :54:32.start investigating? One of the thing you need to investigate, under

:54:33. > :54:36.an approved document regulation, the government document in relation to

:54:37. > :54:40.fire safety in building works, one of the requirements is for you to

:54:41. > :54:43.hand over suitable information about the systems you have used unsuitable

:54:44. > :54:47.certification so I would want to look at was it handed over, was the

:54:48. > :54:52.person who looked at that competence to look at that and would they get

:54:53. > :54:55.the advice from and somebody like Sir Ken Knights who has done a

:54:56. > :54:58.number of investigations in the past would be an ideal candidate to get

:54:59. > :55:03.to the bottom of that and other factors. There is a requirement for

:55:04. > :55:08.within blocks of flats to be checked annually, was that happening, what

:55:09. > :55:13.adores working and door closes working properly? Fire alarm

:55:14. > :55:23.systems, wage a fire risk assessment you should do a sample of the flats.

:55:24. > :55:26.More regular than 2015? The judge in a recent case suggested annually or

:55:27. > :55:29.though there was no specific statement when it should be done but

:55:30. > :55:32.I would recommend in a tower block this ilk you should be done

:55:33. > :55:38.annually. Interesting thoughts. Thank you for being with us. I think

:55:39. > :55:43.we do have control of the Theresa May tape so let's play it.

:55:44. > :55:47.I have received the latest update on the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, 12

:55:48. > :55:53.people have been confirmed dead in this terrible fire that has taken

:55:54. > :55:57.place and sadly the police expect that number to rise further and my

:55:58. > :56:01.thoughts are with the victims, their families and all of those who had

:56:02. > :56:04.their homes destroyed. It is impossible to comprehend the horror

:56:05. > :56:07.of what they have been going through. The response of people

:56:08. > :56:13.living nearby who have provided help, compassion and support has

:56:14. > :56:17.once again shown fantastic spirit of London. Earlier today I ordered

:56:18. > :56:21.cross government meeting to ensure that every assistance was given to

:56:22. > :56:25.manage the emergency service response and that group will meet

:56:26. > :56:31.again tomorrow and once again our emergency services, the Fire

:56:32. > :56:35.Service, ambulance, NHS and police, have shown incredible bravery

:56:36. > :56:38.working in truly appalling conditions and their work will

:56:39. > :56:42.continue for some time and I know everybody will want to join me in

:56:43. > :56:47.thanking them for their amazing bravery. Many people will be working

:56:48. > :56:51.around the clock in the NHS to treat those who have been injured and

:56:52. > :56:57.working elsewhere to provide help and support to those who have no

:56:58. > :57:01.home to return to. Of course, once the scene is secure, once the

:57:02. > :57:04.recovery is complete, an investigation will take place into

:57:05. > :57:09.the cause of the fire and if there are any lessons to be learnt but

:57:10. > :57:13.until then our focus must be on ensuring emergency services have

:57:14. > :57:17.what they need to continue with their harrowing work and help and

:57:18. > :57:23.support is provided to all those who have suffered as a result of this

:57:24. > :57:25.tragedy. At the meeting of the civil contingencies Secretariat it was

:57:26. > :57:30.agreed further checks will be carried out on similar tower blocks.

:57:31. > :57:34.What would you say to those who say perhaps this should have happened

:57:35. > :57:37.before and there are some claims also that the government last year

:57:38. > :57:42.promised to bring in tougher regulations and that has not

:57:43. > :57:46.happened. Our focus today is on ensuring there is every support

:57:47. > :57:50.available to the emergency services and in their typical worker Ms

:57:51. > :57:54.terrible conditions but also in providing help and support to those

:57:55. > :58:04.who have been victims. We must remember there are people today are

:58:05. > :58:07.a who have no home to go to. Our focus must be on providing support

:58:08. > :58:13.to them. In due course when the scene is secure and it is possible

:58:14. > :58:15.to identify the cause of this fire then there will be proper

:58:16. > :58:22.investigation and if there any lessons to be learnt they will be

:58:23. > :58:25.and action be taken. The Prime Minister speaking a short time ago.

:58:26. > :58:28.There will be a proper investigation and if lessons need to be learned,

:58:29. > :58:32.they will be and action will be taken. This time we would normally

:58:33. > :58:39.be tuning into outside source. Let's cross to Ros Atkins

:58:40. > :58:41.in our central London studio for a closer look at

:58:42. > :58:49.what we know about the cause We will take a few minutes to look

:58:50. > :58:57.at what we never Grenfell Tower. It is in west London in an area called

:58:58. > :59:02.North Kensington. You can see it marked that with football pitches

:59:03. > :59:06.nearby. This is what is happening to the tower just half an hour after

:59:07. > :59:10.the first calls went into the emergency services just before one

:59:11. > :59:14.o'clock in the morning but almost the entire building became engulfed

:59:15. > :59:19.very quickly which raises questions about the construction of the tower.

:59:20. > :59:21.This is an architectural design of the building, we have marked the

:59:22. > :59:26.fourth floor in green because that is where we believe the fire

:59:27. > :59:30.originated but there are 24 stories in total, 20 of which are

:59:31. > :59:43.residential. As you can see in this diagram which is one floor it is

:59:44. > :59:45.divided into six flats and that makes up 120 in the building in

:59:46. > :59:47.total. This council flats were managed by the Kensington and

:59:48. > :59:49.Chelsea tenant management organisation on behalf of the royal

:59:50. > :59:54.borough of Kensington and Chelsea. We know this but recently underwent

:59:55. > :59:57.refurbishment which cost in the region of ?10 million. He is one

:59:58. > :00:03.councillor talking about the refurbishments. It has been recently

:00:04. > :00:07.refurbished and clad, they replaced the kitchens and the heating system

:00:08. > :00:11.so I would have thought it would have been the safest tower block in

:00:12. > :00:15.the borough. We have had fires in tower blocks before but nothing like

:00:16. > :00:19.this. The counsellor talked about new cladding and there are questions

:00:20. > :00:23.being asked about whether the new cladding contributed to the speed at

:00:24. > :00:27.which the fire spread. Clearly, something went catastrophically

:00:28. > :00:29.wrong here, the BBC spoke to one fire and building expert who said

:00:30. > :00:45.this block didn't perform in the way you would expect a building

:00:46. > :00:48.to perform, you would expect the fire to be contained to an

:00:49. > :00:50.individual apartment but he goes on to say something has gone

:00:51. > :00:52.dramatically wrong here. We know the company that carried out the

:00:53. > :00:54.refurbishment work has put out a statement saying its work met all

:00:55. > :00:58.fire regulation and health and safety standards. We also know

:00:59. > :01:04.residents had raised safety concerns back in November last year, this is

:01:05. > :01:10.a blog post from the Grenfell Tower action group. In this post, the

:01:11. > :01:15.group raises fire safety concerns analytic uses the towers landlord,

:01:16. > :01:21.the same talent management organisation of failing to address

:01:22. > :01:25.those concerns. The action group predicts it will not be long before

:01:26. > :01:36.the words of this blog come back to haunt the management. So many

:01:37. > :01:41.concerns, locations of heating interface units, concerns about

:01:42. > :01:46.escape and getting in and out and lighting and I heard the firearms

:01:47. > :01:52.did not go off in the building. I was not surprised. I was not

:01:53. > :01:56.surprised, shocked, terrified at the people living here but not

:01:57. > :02:02.surprised. And these signs were posted all over the tower, the signs

:02:03. > :02:06.advise residents, there is a staple policy residents unless the fire is

:02:07. > :02:11.in or affecting your flat. In other words, you are not directly

:02:12. > :02:16.impacted, stay put. This is a policy that applies to lots of these types

:02:17. > :02:21.of tower blocks in the UK since the 1950s, based on the assumption which

:02:22. > :02:26.we had a moment ago that when a fire starts it can be contained in one

:02:27. > :02:31.part of the building. Evidently in this case tragically that did not

:02:32. > :02:34.happen. The role of this kind of advice in the amount of loss of life

:02:35. > :02:44.we have seen will be one many policies and decisions that are

:02:45. > :02:49.being very urgently reviewed. That is very useful, thank you.

:02:50. > :02:51.I'm joined now by Luke Barratt, who is the business

:02:52. > :02:53.editor at Inside Housing, which is a publication

:02:54. > :03:10.The building was being refurbished between 2015 and 2016 and as part of

:03:11. > :03:14.that refurbishment the heating was replaced in the building and the

:03:15. > :03:18.building is heated by pipes that run through each of the floors and in

:03:19. > :03:23.order to replace the heating, they had to change all of the pipes, take

:03:24. > :03:27.at the old pipes and put in new pipes to do that they had to replace

:03:28. > :03:31.the fire stopping in between the floors and those are fire safety

:03:32. > :03:36.systems intended to stop fire spreading from floor to floor. Plan

:03:37. > :03:42.was temporarily replace the fire stopping and put it back in but at

:03:43. > :03:46.this point questions have to be raised about what safeguards there

:03:47. > :03:50.were to ensure it was replaced properly. Furthermore, according to

:03:51. > :03:54.information released by Kensington and Chelsea Council and a Freedom of

:03:55. > :04:01.Information, the last fire risk assessment was carried out on the

:04:02. > :04:03.building in December 2015 which was before the further Schmidt was

:04:04. > :04:09.completed so one would have thought you would want to assess the

:04:10. > :04:13.building after the refurbishment. That is the point I put to the LSE,

:04:14. > :04:16.who ultimately would be responsible for that, Kensington and Chelsea

:04:17. > :04:24.tenant management organisation or the borough council? Per hour range

:04:25. > :04:27.of people involved with the refurbishment and it would be wrong

:04:28. > :04:31.to speculate who would be responsible for it. Or indeed

:04:32. > :04:36.whether fire stopping was replaced at all. For all we know, it was

:04:37. > :04:41.replaced but the question is around the safeguards as to how it was

:04:42. > :04:46.replaced. The construction company have issued a brief statement saying

:04:47. > :04:50.that when they handed building over passed all its building regulations

:04:51. > :04:54.and the tenants Organisation was quite satisfied with how it was

:04:55. > :04:58.done. Indeed. And that is why we should not jump to any conclusions

:04:59. > :05:07.at this stage about how the fire stopping was replaced. It is

:05:08. > :05:12.relevant to point out that it was not assessed fully after the

:05:13. > :05:17.refurbishment. Finally, for your report you must have spoken to the

:05:18. > :05:20.action group and residents in the block, was it clear to you they were

:05:21. > :05:24.unhappy with some of the safety measures? I did not speak to a

:05:25. > :05:29.non-personally but reading their blogs it is clear they were

:05:30. > :05:33.highlighting their concerns about the building in terms of fire and

:05:34. > :05:40.whether or not those match up to the things that we have highlighted in

:05:41. > :05:47.our articles is not certain. OK, thank you. Interestingly, tee-macro

:05:48. > :05:49.reports written on whether there should have been more fire reports

:05:50. > :05:58.after the refurbishment was done. The community here have been helping

:05:59. > :06:02.out and people going through with bags of food and water and clothing

:06:03. > :06:07.and anything they can do to help. There are lots of community centres

:06:08. > :06:10.and churches but also mosques and Ladbroke mosque is playing quite a

:06:11. > :06:17.significant role this evening. Karl Mercer has been to see them.

:06:18. > :06:23.People coming with bags and bringing food and here we are at the mosque

:06:24. > :06:28.and cultural centre just half a mile from the scene and you can see just

:06:29. > :06:34.how busy it is and if we walk inside when we arrived at 12pm there was

:06:35. > :06:38.hardly anything here, hardly anybody here but take a look at what has

:06:39. > :06:44.happened since then. Come on in. This room has been full, water and

:06:45. > :06:47.food has been taken out to those in need and if we swing around to the

:06:48. > :06:52.other side of the room, we have lots of clothes that have been donated

:06:53. > :06:56.and bedding as well. As I say, something that has been happening

:06:57. > :07:01.across west London this afternoon, people walking up to us and offering

:07:02. > :07:07.us assistance but we are joined by the Chief Executive of the cultural

:07:08. > :07:16.centre and the mosque. A difficult day for the community. That is the

:07:17. > :07:20.situation, unfortunately, many people are worried about their loved

:07:21. > :07:24.ones, there are people who do not know what happened to their loved

:07:25. > :07:29.ones, they have no information. In the meantime, we are trying to do

:07:30. > :07:34.our best to offer every help people need, we have been inundated with

:07:35. > :07:38.the generosity of the community people have been calling us from

:07:39. > :07:45.Gatwick and Luton to offer any assistance we need, supplying us

:07:46. > :07:52.with food, blankets, everything. Some of your staff have families and

:07:53. > :07:55.many worshippers will worship here? Yes, staff members have family

:07:56. > :08:00.members in the building and we do not know what happened to them.

:08:01. > :08:04.Worshippers as well, so it is quite a difficult situation we are in but

:08:05. > :08:09.who are trying to cope by providing all the emotional and material

:08:10. > :08:16.support the community needs. Thank you very much. The effort continues

:08:17. > :08:17.here and it will continue through the night. And across other parts

:08:18. > :08:30.close to the fire. We heard from Luke Barrett, who

:08:31. > :08:32.raised concerns that a fire check was not done after the refurbishment

:08:33. > :08:36.is on Grenfell Tower,... speak to Tony Devenish

:08:37. > :08:39.is the Conservative London Assembly Member for West Central and sits

:08:40. > :08:49.on the Housing, Planning Listening to the interview with Luke

:08:50. > :08:53.Barrett who works for inside housing saying his concern was a fire check

:08:54. > :08:58.was not done after the refurbishment, with that concern

:08:59. > :09:02.you? I think I would start by saying it is amazing what the emergency

:09:03. > :09:07.services have done today and how the community has come together. All the

:09:08. > :09:11.issues you are talking about are valuable issues but they offer

:09:12. > :09:15.tomorrow and the Greeks going forward about a focus on the good

:09:16. > :09:20.news in terms of the community getting together this is a serious

:09:21. > :09:26.loss of life and clearly we cannot jump to conclusions on the technical

:09:27. > :09:31.aspects you were discussing earlier. No, quite right. It is too early to

:09:32. > :09:36.jump to conclusions. There will be a lot of people in housing blocks, not

:09:37. > :09:39.just in London were to run the country who will be concerned about

:09:40. > :09:43.renovations done on their blocks, should they be worried and do we

:09:44. > :09:48.need to look closer at some of the renovations that have been done?

:09:49. > :09:52.They should not be worried, we do not want to get wild speculation but

:09:53. > :09:55.I know local authorities all that is looking into this as of this morning

:09:56. > :10:01.and my local authority is doing so and I'm sure many others across the

:10:02. > :10:04.country are so, yes, we need to be going into the detail and they will

:10:05. > :10:10.be reviewed but we do not want to worry people unnecessarily. I accept

:10:11. > :10:15.that that while the review is taking place, will you have to take extra

:10:16. > :10:19.precautions, fire wardens at some of these blocks around the country? I

:10:20. > :10:23.was in a meeting earlier and we are looking at various measures, I do

:10:24. > :10:27.not want to speculate on specifics but I can assure you a lot of work

:10:28. > :10:34.is all ready and away across London, I cannot speak to the rest of the

:10:35. > :10:38.country. When you sit in the London assembly and talk about housing,

:10:39. > :10:44.there is huge pressure on housing, of these kind of housing blocks, are

:10:45. > :10:49.they still valid option? Will need a real mix of housing, the mayor... It

:10:50. > :10:54.is a cross-party issue, we all agree we need more housing and a mixture

:10:55. > :10:59.so yes, tower blocks in certain parts are part of the solution but

:11:00. > :11:04.not across all parts of London. I had a great believer in democratic

:11:05. > :11:07.accountability and local authorities and each have their own community

:11:08. > :11:10.aspects and are looking at the issue, some areas do like tower

:11:11. > :11:18.blocks as part of the mix, some do not. Yes, after an incident like

:11:19. > :11:22.this, would there be a review about some of the emergency provisions in

:11:23. > :11:29.a housing block like this, many people have talked about the one

:11:30. > :11:31.exit, one stairwell out of the building, presumably it is possible

:11:32. > :11:38.to build buildings that are more modern with proper exits, maybe two

:11:39. > :11:43.and buildings with water sprinklers fitted? Or those aspects will be

:11:44. > :11:48.looked at in due course, absolutely as crucial things we should look at

:11:49. > :11:55.after this serious loss of life. I will not speculate on a point by

:11:56. > :12:00.point basis, that would be wrong. OK, good of you to join us. Thank

:12:01. > :12:11.you very much. Plenty of people are milling around. Whereabouts do you

:12:12. > :12:15.live, Ben? A kilometre away in another block tower and I can tell

:12:16. > :12:18.you it is very disconcerting to walk out of my front door, I'm a

:12:19. > :12:22.film-maker and used to work in Hollywood and it looked like a

:12:23. > :12:27.disaster movie. It was crazy. Were you woken in the night were you

:12:28. > :12:33.aware of what was going on? Not until this morning when I have a

:12:34. > :12:38.helicopter circling. And your first instinct is take a photo but then

:12:39. > :12:41.see what you can do to help. We had from Tony Devenish from the London

:12:42. > :12:45.assembly saying people do not need to panic, Richard remain calm about

:12:46. > :12:49.the blocks they live in adage is any natural after something like that

:12:50. > :12:53.that you start to think about how would I get out of my block and is

:12:54. > :12:57.my blocks safe and what provisions are there? Yeah, it is important to

:12:58. > :13:01.be prepared for the situations and to look around your block of flats

:13:02. > :13:06.and plan an escape route if something were to happen. We have

:13:07. > :13:10.two stairwells and I know with the dry rises are and I'm aware of it, I

:13:11. > :13:15.live on the seventh floor and I think if I had to jump I might

:13:16. > :13:19.survive. That is the horrifying thing that we heard, people had to

:13:20. > :13:25.make that decision. Yeah, that is something I would not want to do. If

:13:26. > :13:30.anyone is up on the top, they really do not stand a chance. It was fully

:13:31. > :13:36.involved. Have you been getting involved with people today? I made a

:13:37. > :13:41.movie about what is going on, seeing the firemen who had been their first

:13:42. > :13:47.responders completely devastated, people offering them water, streets

:13:48. > :13:50.are full of locals and all I saw was compassion for what had happened and

:13:51. > :13:55.people trying to help in they could. I went and offered at one of the

:13:56. > :13:59.local centres to let them know I have a spare room. OK, we will pause

:14:00. > :14:13.for a moment. The reaction of the community has

:14:14. > :14:17.been quite extraordinary. I have watched people come and go with all

:14:18. > :14:23.sorts, bags of shopping, clothes, toiletries, toothbrushes. It looked

:14:24. > :14:32.like a parade, people were pulling up with bags and unloading boxes and

:14:33. > :14:36.blankets and food and that outpouring of desire to pitch in, I

:14:37. > :14:39.have never seen anything like that and I have a great admiration for

:14:40. > :14:43.London in general and the British people that they just immediately

:14:44. > :14:48.step in and want to do the right thing. I saw one picture of the

:14:49. > :14:54.firefighters, the men and women who been up and down the tower all-day,

:14:55. > :14:59.in incredible conditions, the smoke in the stairwells, a hot day as

:15:00. > :15:03.well, your hat goes off to them. Indeed, I had a chat with some of

:15:04. > :15:06.them and some of them had been there since one o'clock in the morning and

:15:07. > :15:10.this was at eight o'clock that they had done a full shift, they were

:15:11. > :15:14.drenched with sweat, some had tears in their eyes, some had to sit down

:15:15. > :15:20.and I was giving them their space and letting them process this but

:15:21. > :15:25.they were devastated. Then, thank you for coming to talk to us. We

:15:26. > :15:31.will be here in the next few minutes, will carry on our coverage

:15:32. > :15:32.down here at tower but for the moment will pause and get some

:15:33. > :15:41.weather. Temperatures reached 27 degrees this

:15:42. > :15:48.afternoon falling short of other parts of Western Europe where there

:15:49. > :15:49.is a real summer heatwave, 34 degrees in Toulouse