LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2019) The cause of the devastating fire in London's Grenfell Tower fire that took the lives of 72 residents in 2017 was caused by an electrical short-circuit, a 1000-page report of the first phase of an inquiry into the tragedy revealed.
In the early hours of June 14, 2017, a massive fire broke out in the 24-storey residential building in west London, killing 72 and injuring more than 70 others. The building burned down completely.
The report, to be released on Wednesday and compiled by inquiry chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, said the fire was started by an electrical short circuit in a large fridge-freezer in an fourth-floor apartment.
Behailu Kebede, who had lived in the apartment, bore no blame for the fire, the report concluded.
The report also found that systematic failures by the London Fire Brigade had caused the death toll to significantly increase because people were told to "stay put" in their apartments instead of evacuating. Finally, people were told to leave almost two hours after the fire broke out at around 01:00 GMT.
"That decision could and should have been made between 1.30am and 1.50am and would be likely to have resulted in fewer fatalities. The best part of an hour was lost before Assistant Commissioner Roe revoked the 'stay put' advice," the report said.
Additionally, the report said that the "principle reason" why the fire spread so quickly was due to the presence of combustible aluminum composite material cladding panels, which were added when the structure was refurbished prior to the fire in 2017.
Finally, Sir Martin called accused in the report the fire brigade's former commissioner Dany Cotton, who was in charge at the time of the fire, of "remarkable insensitivity" for having said that she would not have done anything differently on the night. She retired in June after just three years on the job.
The second phase inquiry is due to start in the new year and is expected to look into the condition of the Grenfell Tower and how it came to be refurbished with the highly-flammable cladding.
