Tag Archives: Grenfell Tower

Arconic knowingly supplied flammable panels for use in tower: emails

Extensive damage is seen to the Grenfell Tower block which was destroyed in a disastrous fire, in north Kensington, West London, Britain June 16, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) – Six emails sent by and to an Arconic Inc <ARNC.N> sales manager raise questions about why the company supplied combustible cladding to a distributor for use at Grenfell Tower, despite publicly warning such panels were a fire risk for tall buildings. The emails, dating from 2014 and seen by Reuters, were between Deborah French, Arconic’s UK sales manager, and executives at the contractors involved in the bidding process for the refurbishment contract at Grenfell Tower in London, where 79 people died in a blaze last week.

When asked about the emails, Arconic said in a statement that it had known the panels would be used at Grenfell Tower but that it was not its role to decide what was or was not compliant with local building regulations.

The company manufactures three main types of Reynobond panel– one with a polyethylene (PE) core, one with a fire retardant core and another with a non-combustible core, according to its website.

Diagrams in a 2016 Arconic brochure for its Reynobond panels describe how PE core panels are suitable up to 10 meters in height. Panels with a fire resistant core — the FR model — can be used up to 30 meters, while above that height, panels with the non-combustible core — the A2 model — should be used, the brochure says.

Grenfell Tower is more than 60 meters tall.

The brochure also issued a blunt warning that cladding can be a fire risk.

“When conceiving a building, it is crucial to choose the adapted products in order to avoid the fire to spread to the whole building. Especially when it comes to facades and roofs, the fire can spread extremely rapidly,” the brochure said.

“As soon as the building is higher than the fire fighters’ ladders, it has to be conceived with an incombustible material.” Nonetheless, between May and July 2014, French, who was based at Arconic’s factory in Merxheim, France, responded to requests from the companies involved in refurbishing Grenfell Tower on the availability of samples of five different types of Reynobond aluminum-covered panels, all of which were only available in the combustible PE and FR versions, according to Arconic brochures.

In the end, Arconic said on Friday, the company provided PE panels. “While we publish general usage guidelines, regulations and codes vary by country and need to be determined by the local building code experts,” the company said in an emailed statement in response to the Reuters enquiry.

“The loss of lives, injuries and destruction following the Grenfell Tower fire are devastating, and we would like to express our deepest sympathies to everyone affected by this tragedy … We will fully support the authorities as they investigate this tragedy,” the statement said.

French did not respond to requests for comment.

Arconic, which was known as Alcoa Inc until 2016, declined to say if it knew how tall the tower was and the emails seen by Reuters do not specifically refer to its height. They do, however, refer to “Grenfell Tower” and mention other high rise projects where paneling has been used when discussing the appearance that was being sought for Grenfell Tower.

Arconic also knew the quantity of panels being supplied and thus the total exterior coverage. A source at one of the companies involved in the process said Arconic had “full involvement” throughout the contract bidding process.

Omnis Exteriors, which cut the Arconic tiles to shape and supplied them to the cladding contractor, said it was not responsible for the choice of panel.

“CEP played no part in the selection of Reynobond PE and simply fulfilled the order as directed by the design and build team,” the company said in a statement on Saturday, referring to CEP Architectural Facades Ltd, the Omnis unit which fulfilled the contract.

Harley Facades Ltd., the company which installed the panels, Rydon Group, the overall contractor on the 2014-2016 Grenfell refurbishment, and the local authority, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which owns the tower block all declined to comment.

Rydon previously said in a statement that its work on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower, which was intended to give the building better heat and sound insulation, complied with all building regulations. Harley said last week it was “not aware of any link between the fire and the exterior cladding to the tower”.

In the emails, French and representatives of Harley and Rydon also discuss the choice of panel models and colors and how they were inching towards securing the contract with the local authority.

Harris did not respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, British finance minister Philip Hammond said the type of panels used, which are cheaper than non-combustible panels, were banned for use in high rise buildings in Britain, as they are in Europe and the United States.

Omnis said combustible Reynobond PE material was safe to use on high rise buildings if the insulation material usually put behind the panels was made of incombustible material such as mineral fiber. Some safety experts say the regulations are not black and white. The UK uses a ‘principles-based’ approach to regulation which puts an onus on companies to operate safely, based on common understanding of risks and the technology available.

This differs to the highly specific ‘rules-based’ approach to regulation taken in the United States.

Supporters of the principles-based approach say it avoids the emergence of loopholes and means companies have to take account of new information on risks immediately, rather than wait for a new regulation to be drafted.

The fatal fire was started by a faulty Hotpoint fridge-freezer in one of the apartments, London police said on Friday. Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack said insulation on the building, and the cladding panels, had failed safety tests carried out after the disaster.

The police investigation was considering the possibility of manslaughter and criminal offences in respect of the fire.

(Editing by Catherine Evans and Toby Chopra)

Deadly London apartment blaze began in Hotpoint fridge freezer, police say

Members of the emergency services work inside burnt out remains of the Grenfell apartment tower in North Kensington, London, Britain, June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) – A fire that killed at least 79 people at a London apartment block started in a Hotpoint <WHR.N> fridge freezer, and the outside cladding engulfed by the blaze has since been shown to fail all safety tests, London police said on Friday.

Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack said that in view of the heavy death toll, police were considering manslaughter charges over the disaster.

She said the Hotpoint model, FF175BP, involved was not subject to recall and the manufacturer was doing further tests.

“We now have expert evidence that the fire was not started deliberately,” McCormack told reporters in London.

Britain ordered an immediate technical examination of the Hotpoint fridge model, manufactured between 2006 and 2009, to establish whether further action needed to be taken, but said there was no need for owners to switch off their appliances.

Whirlpool Corp, the world’s largest maker of home appliances, owns the Hotpoint brand in the Europe and Asia Pacific regions. In the United States, the brand now belongs to Haier, following the Chinese group’s purchase of General Electric Co’s <GE.N> appliance business.

“We are working with the authorities to obtain access to the appliance so that we can assist with the ongoing investigations,” Whirpool said in a statement. “Words cannot express our sorrow at this terrible tragedy.”

Police said both the insulation and tiles used in cladding at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block failed all post-fire safety tests.

“Preliminary tests show the insulation samples collected from Grenfell tower combusted soon after the test started,” McCormack said.

Such were their concerns after the tests that the information was immediately shared with government to disseminate more widely.

“Given the deaths of so many people we are considering manslaughter as well as criminal offences and breaches of legislation and regulations,” McCormack said.

The blaze, Britain’s worst since World War Two, has heaped pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May, already fighting for her political survival after her party lost its parliamentary majority in a snap election on June 8.

When speaking about the 79 people dead or missing, presumed dead, McCormack said: “I fear that there are more.”

(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Martinne Geller, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Ralph Boulton)

England has 600 buildings with similar cladding to London blaze tower: PM May’s spokeswoman

Members of the emergency services work inside burnt out remains of the Grenfell apartment tower in North Kensington, London. REUTERS/Neil Hall

LONDON (Reuters) – An estimated 600 buildings in England have cladding similar to that used at the Grenfell Tower block where a devastating blaze killed at least 79 people, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday.

“The estimate provided to us by councils is that there are approximately 600 high rise buildings with similar cladding,” the spokeswoman said.

“We are obviously in touch with all the local authorities to encourage them to urgently send us the samples and then we will carry out the checks that we need,” she said.

She added that cladding on three buildings has so far tested positive as combustible. The estimate does not include buildings in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

(Reporting by William James and James Davey; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Death toll in London tower fire rises to 79, police say

The burnt out remains of the Grenfell apartment tower are seen in North Kensington, London, Britain, June 18, 201

By Estelle Shirbon and William James

LONDON (Reuters) – The death toll from a fire that ravaged a London tower block last week has risen to 79, police said on Monday, as the government tried to show it was improving its handling of a tragedy that has angered the public.

Fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, a social housing block in Kensington, in western London, in the early hours of Wednesday, trapping residents inside as it tore through the building with terrifying speed.

“I believe there are 79 people that are either dead, or missing, and sadly I have to presume are dead,” Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy told reporters.

He said five of the dead had been formally identified, and it would be a slow and painstaking task to identify the others.

A minute’s silence was held across Britain at 1000 GMT (6.00 a.m. ET) to honor the victims of the fire – a painfully familiar ritual after the country has been hit by three deadly attacks by militants in London and Manchester since March.

Members of the emergency services arrive to attend a minute's silence for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire near the site of the blaze in North Kensington, London, Britain, June 19, 2017

Members of the emergency services arrive to attend a minute’s silence for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire near the site of the blaze in North Kensington, London, Britain, June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

The attacks and the fire have come at a particularly difficult time for Prime Minister Theresa May, who was weakened by the loss of her parliamentary majority in a June 8 election and faces arduous talks on Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Cundy became visibly upset as he described conditions in the charred Grenfell Tower, where a search and recovery operation is expected to last weeks.

“I was in there myself and went all the way to the top floor and it is incredibly hard,” he said, before pausing as tears welled up in his eyes.

“It is incredibly hard to describe the devastation in some parts of the building,” he continued, his voice breaking.

“It is a truly awful reality that there may be some people that we may not be able to identify due to the intensity of the fire,” he said before pausing again to recover himself.

Emergency services have been widely praised for how they handled the fire, but the local community has accused the government of a slow and inadequate response. May has come under personal attack for failing to meet residents during her first visit to the site.

People react next to tributes to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire near the site of the blaze in North Kensington, London, Britain, June 19, 2017.

People react next to tributes to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire near the site of the blaze in North Kensington, London, Britain, June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

“NOT GOOD ENOUGH”

At a daily briefing with reporters, May’s spokeswoman said that on a second visit to the area, during which the prime minister was booed and heckled, May had listened carefully to the experiences of those on the ground.

“That’s why she totally accepted that it (the government response) hadn’t been good enough. She understood that immediate action needed to be taken to speed things up, and that’s what she’s done,” the spokeswoman said.

She said the terms of reference of a public inquiry into the blaze were being drafted, and the government had now contacted all local authorities in England asking them to identify any safety concerns in light of the tragedy.

However, May did not support a proposal put forward by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, to seize unoccupied properties to re-house survivors of the fire, the spokeswoman said.

“Occupy it, compulsory purchase it, requisition it – there’s a lot of things you can do,” Corbyn said on Sunday during an interview on ITV.

Grenfell Tower is located in a pocket of social deprivation within the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of Britain’s wealthiest areas. The fire has led to national soul-searching about inequalities and neglect of the poor.

Briefing reporters at New Scotland Yard, London’s police headquarters, Cundy said a criminal investigation into the tower blaze would be exhaustive. He said 250 investigators were looking at all criminal offences that may have been committed.

“Whilst it will look at the how, perhaps more importantly, it will also look at why this happened,” Cundy said. The investigation will include areas such as the construction, renovation and maintenance of the building and fire safety procedures, he said.

Cundy said five people who had been reported as missing in the fire had now been found and were safe and well.

He said the death toll of 79 could still change if anyone reported as missing was found alive, of if anyone was found in the ruined tower who had not been reported as missing.

“Whilst I’ve said I think there may be changes, I don’t think those changes will be as significant as the changes we’ve seen over the last few days,” he said.

The death toll was first given as 12, before being revised up to 17, then 30, then 58.

(Additional reporting by Paul Sandle, editing by Larry King)