fire brigade

For many who survived the fire at Grenfell Tower, questions remain about the role of the fire service. Fourth floor resident Maryam Adam lived next door to the flat where the fire first took hold. She was one of the first out of the building and believes firefighters didn’t act quickly enough.

Scotland Yard is to investigate the London Fire Brigade over its use of the stay put policy during the Grenfell Tower Fire after claims that it cost lives – and should have been abandoned far earlier. Lawyers for the Fire Brigade told the public inquiry into the fire that a mass evacuation of the building would have been extremely difficult…

They were told to stay inside their flats when the fire broke out. Now the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster has heard that the “stay put” advice substantially failed half an hour after the blaze broke out. Failing to abandon it then, the counsel to the inquiry said, could have made all the difference…

The brother of the first named victim of the Grenfell Tower fire says the fire brigade should have abandoned their “stay put” policy much earlier. Omar Al Haj-Ali and his brother Mohammed – both refugees from Syria – were told to stay put three times before deciding to flee, but only Omar made it out…