London fire

There has been some miraculous news of people surviving.

I am hoping that there will be something done quickly and with compassion to house the survivors and to get their life back on track. I hope a site for donations is soon started.

Oh my god listening to channel 4 I am devastated - it is so cruel. 10million to prevent an eye sore for the wealthy living nearby, but absolutely nothing for the poors safety and life.

I'm ashamed to say I have been unable to look at the pictures or read the news reports after hearing the news on the radio first thing this morning. It breaks my heart to think of the people who have died and those seriously injured. So much respect for the emergency services

It would be lovely for the owners of some of the big houses in the affluent parts of Kensington (and London in general) open their doors to the poor souls who have no idea where they are sleeping tonight.

The most recent info we were given was that they had plenty of clothes but were in need of toiletries, nappies, food and toys.

It's great to see communities coming together to help others, the one thing that is incredible in all these type of situations. Shows how the vast majority of people are helpful and friendly whatever their background.

We were told they have enough "stuff" , now needed money donations to help those dispossessed to rebuild their lives.

I live in a South London borough and have just been to take some clothes, food and toys to a collection point, for delivery tonight to the centres where people are staying. The church hall that is the collection point was already full of donations of all kinds, with volunteers sorting them, ably assisted by a Brownie pack - such a touching sight after a terrible tragedy. Our son lives on the 11th floor of a London tower block so it's close to home.

The recommendations of the enquiry into the 2009 Lanakal House fatal fire in Southwark was that sprinkler systems should be installed in high rise buildings.

It is now 2017, Grenfell Tower has just been refurbished, finished earlier this year. No sprinkler system was installed

This event is distressing but it has also made me so angry. I bet if you looked up newspaper reports after the Southwark fire, LAs would have been parroting on about 'lessons have been learned'.

Learnt, but promptly forgotten.

So vey sad. I have no words to describe this tragedy....

My youngest DS lives on the 16th floor of a block here in London. Fortunately it is a privately owned new build with a concierge with cameras on every floor, sprinklers, no gas in the building so I feel a bit less anxious, but I'm also pleased to say he is house hunting and hoping to move. Also my youngest DD and her BF frequent Borough Market , but the weekend of the attacks they were in ... Beirut (!) I must say I was pleased they were there and not London. This tragedy is so appalling, we can't help empathising with those families searching for their loved ones and those who have lost everything and have only the pyjamas they fled in.

So so terrible.....and i get so angry that these terrible disasters that destroy lives in so many ways are allowed to happen...it nearly always turns out to be negligence and cost cutting......God bless all involved...all who have lost their lives..been physically and psychologically scared and our wonderful rescue services.

Has it been stated officially that the cause of the fire was cut backs taken for profit?

12 dead now with more expected.

Unspeakably sad....

M0nica, I agree with you.

Reducing the building's waste of energy seems to have trumped the safety of its residents.

We may find that this mistake was repeated many times around the country.

It was the most awful news, other current problems fade into insignificance. The thought of throwing children out of a window to save them - no emoticon to express it.
Like Nana on another thread I go to practical ideas to help, (apart from all the kindness that is being showed locally.)
I thought of the appt. blocks in the USA where they have fire escapes on the outside of the building. Not that this would have helped here because it was the façade which was burning.
Like others, I'm glad I never had to live in a tower block. I remember the first ones being built postwar to replace all the slums and bombed buildings in the East End. Then the Ronan Point collapse.

The people living in the tower and locally are devastated by the short cuts taken for profit. People have died because of greed.

The Evening Standard has set up a fund, called the fund for the dispossessed. www.dispossessedfund.org.uk/

Most people living in the block have, quite literally, been left in nothing but the clothes they stand up in. Everything else, clothes, childrens toys, house contents, has been destroyed. Some may have insurance but many are in those jobs and on those wages that make insurance outside their income.

Manslaughter at the very least.

Presumably if planning has been flouted then it will be a charge of murder?

I live in a housing association controlled retirement apartment. The association fire policy is to evacuate but the local fire brigades advice,because 75% of residents would need assistance, is to stay put. If we have a fire alarm the housing association are supposed to send someone in to reset our fire control board. On the last occasion the fire brigade reset it, which is just as well as the HA turned up 52 hours later which would have left us without cover for that time.

Glad my ex has retired from London Fire Brigade. So much respect for them and their families.

RIP

It's just dreadful. The thought of those poor people is so very upsetting. How brave the emergency services are and what a debt we as a nation owe them.

I have read that some of these flats were 4 bedrooms, so liklihood is that many kids would have been trapped. I woman was forced to drop her baby from 9th floor but it was caught by a man who rushed forward. People in top floors would not have stood a chance of escape and too high to jump and survive. Those poor people.....