The road to Grenfell: A disaster they knew would happen
As a Specialist Roofing & Cladding Consultant Mike Fox has over 30 years’ of experience in the construction industry. Now Director of MAF Associates which launched in 2015, the business has grown rapidly in the past 18 months due to thousands of buildings requiring full external building inspections as a result of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Here, he offers his take on the revelations that continue to come out of the Grenfell Inquiry, and explains his belief that the tragic event was an inevitable consequence of a damaged industry culture.
Listening to coverage of the Grenfell Inquiry on the news, day by day, it would be easy to believe that it was some huge conspiracy and, to some extent, you would be right. The use of flammable cladding was effectively hidden in plain sight, but the fact is that its manufacturers were doing nothing technically illegal at the time and, more importantly for potential whistleblowers, they m
ticket halls and tunnels wasn t easy. there was nothing quite like seeing a fire scene firsthand to give you a full appreciation of the devastation that has taken place, and also to give you a feel for how the fire might have developed. they needed to answer two critical questions what sparked the fire? and how could it appear so suddenly and erupt into a fatal blaze that claimed 31 lives? nearly a million people relied on the underground each day. they needed to know if the system was safe. it was on the front pages of every newspaper, obviously, for several days, and there was enormous demand to find out why it had happened. investigators started where the flames were first spotted, the escalator. this was the lowest point of the fire, indicating the fire had started there and burned upward. no accelerants or other indications of arson were found.
rail system in the world. but on the evening of november 18th, 1987, commuters are unaware that disaster lurks beneath them. at 7:30 p.m., a passenger at the historic king s cross station sees a flicker of flame underneath the heavily varnished, 50-year-old wooden escalator. the london fire brigade is dispatched. it seems to be a routine call. an everyday call to a fire in an escalator, something we were receiving probably 20 or 30 times a month. so, it was no big deal. fire captain roger kendall, one of the first to reach the scene, waits above ground for his supervisor to report. we were waiting for message to come back to say that we re all going home or we may need a bit of equipment. trains continued to come and go, despite the minor commotion. musician ron lipsius arrives at the station on one of those
but at a 30-degree angle, the angle of the king s cross escalator, the flames leaned into the shaft at an angle and raced upwards. in the confined trench, the fire could only draw air from below, creating a draft. because the air can t come round the fire, it has to come effectively through the fire. investigators then ran a bigger test on a one-third sized model of the complete king s cross station. if the trench effect worked this time, it would prove their theory was right. in a matter of three or four seconds, the flames went from being upright to being lying along the escalator trench. and from then on, it was just as we had predicted, which is very gratifying. it is clear the previously unknown phenomenon called the trench effect was real. now we understand. it s now all obvious. it fits together. the jigsaw fits together perfectly.