Grenfell Tower cladding could have 'acted like bellows' in fire, expert warns
GETTY/SWNS The cladding on Grenfell Tower may have acted as a massive bellows, it has emerged
As councils across the country were checking their own tower blocks, a leading council health and safety expert said a working theory was not so much how the so-called fire-proof cladding had burned so easily, but how it might have acted to fan the flames of the initial blaze. The expert who advises on similar tower blocks elsewhere in the country but who did not want to be named fearing 'whistleblower' repercussions said: "Anything will burn if you get it hot enough, even fire proof cladding. But there is some industry speculation today that when cladding is applied, the gap between it and the building acts as a chimney - air would rush in and feed a small fire, like bellows, making it very hot and hence spread quickly."
He added for a blaze that fierce to engulf a tower block so quickly should have been impossible because of a strict system of physical fire breaks designed precisely to prevent whole buildings going up in flames. He said: “Many people are asking why sprinkler systems didn't work but that is a bit of a misunderstanding – it's not like the movies. But what should have prevented this is what we call compartmentalisation.
Anything will burn if you get it hot enough, even fire proof cladding Expert
“Fire breaks - whether they be concrete, brick, plaster or solid doors - should have kept a small fire contained for 30 minutes or even an hour – enough time for the fire brigade to turn up and put it out. “But if fire doors were not maintained properly, or were wedged open, or if holes had been drilled in the fire breaks to put in new services, all of these will enable the spread of fire. “What is needed now is a detailed investigation to make sure this can never happen anywhere else.”
London fire: Grenfell Tower aftermath Wed, June 14, 2017 The fire has spread from the second floor to the roof of the enormous 120-flat block, with 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control Play slideshow SWNS.com 1 of 34 Firefighters continue to try and bring the blaze under control at 27-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, White City, London
GETTY Acting as a below the cladding could have turned a minor blaze into the deadly inferno
At least twelve people are confirmed to have died in the horrifying inferno, with 74 people injured and 20 in a critical condition. The body count is expected to rise. Chief Fire Commissioner Dani Cotton confirmed the blaze gutted the 24-storey tower block as a result of the fire in the early hours of the morning. Jon Hall, who served as a firefighter for 30 years and then as a chief fire officer, agreed the compartmentalisation seemed to have failed catastrophically at Grenfell Tower. He told Express.co.uk: “I think the best way to describe it is a multiple system failure.
GETTY The gap between the building and the cladding could have acted like a chimney
“The cladding, the fire alarm system, the means of escape. When you look at it, it looks like a failure of all of these.” Fire safety plans, risk assessment and structural failings all appear to have contributed to the deaths at Grenfell tower block, he said. Mr Hall, currently the managing director of emergency risk and disaster specialists resilience 24/7, said: “The vertical spreading of the fire on cladding on the outside of the building, how did this happen? “The pictures show lots of fires in individual flats with fires spreading internally as well. Building regulation shouldn’t allow that.
SWNS Twelve people are confirmed dead with police expecting that number to rise