'Shocking failures' by London Fire Brigade led to more Grenfell deaths
‘Shocking failures’ by the ‘incompetent and incapable’ London Fire Brigade at Grenfell Tower led to more deaths due to ‘ignorance’, poor risk assessment and communication and ‘profoundly insecure’ training, inquiry hears
- Lawyer representing families slams ‘incompetent’ London Fire Brigade
- Grenfell Tower Inquiry hears fire was ‘foreseeable’ and failures led to loss of life
- Danny Friedman QC called on brigade to publicly acknowledge responsibility
- He said fire brigade was ‘incompetent and incapable at every level to respond’
‘Shocking failures’ by an ‘incompetent and incapable’ London Fire Brigade at Grenfell Tower led to more deaths due to ‘ignorance’, poor risk assessment and communication and ‘profoundly insecure’ training, an inquiry has heard.
Danny Friedman QC, representing several residents and families of those who died in the blaze, told the Grenfell Tower Inquiry today that the fire brigade had contributed to the deaths of 72 people on June 14, 2017.
He said: ‘The depth of the failures of the London Fire Brigade (LFB) that contributed to this disaster was shocking.
‘The brigade was incompetent and incapable at every level to respond to a fire that was extreme but foreseeable and was actually in breach of its duty under statute and policy.’
His remarks come as lawyers make closing statements for the latest modules covering firefighting as part of phase two of the inquiry, which is examining how Grenfell Tower came to be coated in flammable materials.
He said LFB had failed in six different ways which were ‘all foreseeable, all preventable and all in their own way causative of the extent of loss of life’.
Mr Friedman told the inquiry that the first of the failures was that ‘firefighters and managers remained in ignorance of catastrophic construction risks posed by cladding fires’, despite the risks being known within LFB and cladding fires having been on the rise.
A view of the remains of Grenfell Tower, now covered in hoardings following a huge fire in June 2017 that resulted in the deaths of 72 people
Grenfell Tower ablaze in 2017. Lawyers representing residents and families of victims killed in the fire have slammed failures by London Fire Brigade
He said ‘incompetent’ risk assessments of Grenfell Tower and the brigade’s ‘profoundly insecure’ training, continuing education and preparation had also contributed to the disaster.
LFB also failed with regard to having ‘no developed thinking at all’ when it came to supporting high rise residential evacuations and because it ‘tolerated inadequate fire ground radio communications’, he added.
Finishing his remarks, Mr Friedman said: ‘The control room was simply unable to cope with a complex incident involving multiple cause.
‘The fire ground control could not coordinate properly and the result was to make matters worse, in fact, far worse.’
He also explained how each of the six failures he had referenced were ‘foreshadowed’ during LFB’s response to the Lakanal House tower block fire in 2009, which resulted in six deaths.
The repeat of those failures ‘should be deeply unsettling to anyone who has studied the evidence’, he continued.
Mr Friedman also called on the LFB to publicly declare and acknowledge responsibility for its alleged failures in order to reclaim trust.
People stand and pay their respects in front of a Grenfell Tower memorial in west London in June 2020 – three years on from the tragedy
Danny Friedman QC said ‘incompetent’ risk assessments of Grenfell Tower and the LFB’s ‘profoundly insecure’ training, continuing education and preparation had also contributed to the disaster
Three children and three adults died when a fire spread across Lakanal House in Camberwell, south London, in 2009
Professor Leslie Thomas QC, who is representing other residents and families of victims, also slammed the brigade as ‘seemingly unwillingly or unable’ to reflect on its failings and change as an organisation.
He added: ‘They are not listening, they are not learning, they are not reflecting,’
Professor Thomas told the inquiry that LGB has ‘already given a clear indication that they are not going to follow’ the inquiry’s phase one findings, and has even indicated his wished for the panel to revisit them.
He branded their reaction to the findings as ‘arrogance of the highest level’, adding that the panel needs to tell the brigade it is ‘unacceptable’.
Prof Thomas said: ‘This is an affront to our clients and the memories of those who lost their lives.’
He added that the LFB is ‘an organisation with complacent and self-satisfied management structure and leadership, who are seemingly unwilling or unable or a combination of both to undergo the difficult but necessary task of self-reflection and valuation’.
Phase two of the inquiry’s hearings is expected to conclude in May.
A report is expected to be then published at a later date.
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