The Survivors Story Of The Grenfell Tower Fire | What Went Wrong: Countdown to Catastrophe 

I live in Melbourne Australia. My apartment building had its cladding removed and replaced last year as a result of Grenfell. This tragic event has touched people all around the world.

The " stay put" needed to be addressed as well. When you're breathing in smoke, put a damp or wet towels around you and move downward as fast as you can.

I remember I worked with a construction company, and we were installing outlets. I noticed that they were flimsy and kept breaking or failing apart. I harmlessly went to the foreman and mentioned it. I was layed off 2 days later

To the lady that said "If the fire didn't happen, none of this would have happened." Well yes, of course. But, that is out of anyone's control. The residents died because of the building codes and cutting corners in renovation. Most importantly, the fact that the residents were told that it would be safer to stay put than to escape. Also, where were the fire alarm and fire sprinklers? I hope the guy that started the fire doesn't blame himself too much. NEVER STAY PUT! I don't care - I will leave immediately upon hearing that there is a fire!

When the film _The Towering Inferno_ came out, a 'mythbusting' article/review was published by one of the builders associations in the US that thoroughly criticized the film and the two books it was based off (_The Glass Inferno_ and _The Tower_), claiming the film was damaging to the image of the high-rise construction industry, with their arguments boiling down to 'this is just a completely unrealistic scenario' and 'this is why we have regulations besides'. In the supposedly 'unrealistic' film and books, the fire spread so far and fast because of a series of failures in adherence to regulations, improper fire safety in the construction and materials, absence of fire collars and other fire control, complacency, and corner cutting. I couldn't help but remember that very cocksure article when I read about Grenfell, and how alike the scenarios were in the end. 'Completely unrealistic' indeed.

Reminds me a bit of the Summerland fire. The designers were sold this fantastic new material to clad the building in - which turned out to be highly flammable and meltable.

I remember listening to a documentary about this, but for some reason I thought it was back in the sixties or seventies. Learning that something this awful was allowed to happen only just recently made the shock and outrage come back twice as strong. This? In Britain? Today? Then again maybe I shouldn't be surprised. My sister who lives in London keeps telling me about the lousy housing standards in Britain.

Grenfell Tower: A case in "How many flammable materials can we load onto one residential building and how effective is the resulting death-trap?"

The colour of the smoke and the flames says a lot, but not as much as the cladding material that didn't self extinguish. When it drips and falls and stays alight it means you have a serious problem and need to evacuate. That cladding is basically gasoline, it's hydrocarbons and hasn't been treated to be fire resistant. Personally I think the fire department was negligent, there was no way you can leave people in a building covered in napalm. The temperatures are high enough to cause flashover, even without airflow the curtains and fabrics near the windows will release flammable gases and burst into flames. You can't leave people in a situation like that, people will die escaping but at least they will have a chance.

A lot of people in the Twin Towers disaster would have survived if they had ignored the "sit and stay" orders. They should have gone for the stairs as soon as possible and helped each other down. Well, same with this horror fest. Egad, what a dog's breakfast. The management obviously didn't believe in fire alarms or fire safety. Negligent homicide on a grand scale. This is so very painful to watch, but we MUST bear witness. We owe the dead.

3 most common causes of accidents: 1) Greed 2) Corruption 3) Everything else

The cladding was added to increase the rent of the units. Such a tragedy!

2013, Kiss nightclub fire, 242 killed. Irresponsible companies + cheap materials is a disaster waiting to happen, and it seems no one is paying attention since it keeps happening to this day. May all who lost their lives rest in peace.

When I was in England in 1965, there were no highrises. They were still cleaning areas from bombed buildings. It is really strange to see London covered in buildings so high that you lose sight of the ground. People seem to have changed there as well. I miss the old London. Peace & Blessings to all.💖

This is really the stuff of nightmares. Tragedy that might could have been avoided. My sincere condolences to all who lost a loved one in the fire. May I just remind everyone about having fire alarm and fire extinguisher at home.

😢 I can’t believe it’s been 6yrs I cried thinking how those poor people were trapped. So awful 😢 I remember there was a young girl and her mother trapped and waving out the window, they were not saved 😢

I'm only 5 minutes into the video. I had to pause to make this comment The thing that frustrates me most about that fire is the blame for so many of the deaths was not because of the cladding. Don't get me wrong, I could go on an expletive filled rant about how ridiculous and even criminal it was to use that cladding. The primary blame for why the cladding was allowed to cause so many deaths is placed solely at the feet of the fire brigade and their (insert expletive here) policy of stay-put-wait-to-be-rescued.

🙏 Prayers To The Families Of Victims 🙏 As Well those that survived 🙏

So, they built perfect chimneys every three or four feet across and vertically up the entire building. Polyethylene and styrene are solid gasoline. The glue was probably flammable, as was the rubber gasket and press board beneath the entire apparatus! Way to go!

I love since the 1980s. Time and time again I hear news stories of fires in large buildings claiming many lives. Every fire is unique and so are the causes. But there is one factor that unites all of them. There were no sprinklers installed. And every time the answer is that sprinkler systems are not required to be retrofitted into existing buildings. How many more lives need to be lost before sprinklers will need to be required in any large or public building, regardless of the buildings age?

In my apartment building our alarms go off all the time. I always go out and check. Why so many people didn't leave when it first started baffles me. No alarms?Because we have so many false alarms 90% of the tenants don't go outside when the alarms go off. We have had a couple real fires that were quickly put out. In Canada we are taught to leave from childhood. I only recently heard about this stay put policy recently. It drives me nuts and makes no sense at all. Many immigrants live in our building and honestly they arent taught fire safety with the stoves. Always leave right away.

So, if someone told me to stay put in a burning building, I'd not listen, I dunno. This never made any sense; how these people stayed in their apartments.

Fire Visuals are horrific 😢 Its heartbreaking that they waited for fire brigade than trying to evacuate

Survivors and families of victims will have to wait til 2027 for suspects to go on trial. 10 YEARS. That is disgusting.

Never stay in a motel past the 2nd floor for this reason.

A major problem they had no idea who was in the flats Why ? Many flat council tenants, had relet their flats illegally to other families getting up to double money they were paying. No one to my knowledge has been prosecuted for this, and the MSM ignores this horrible practice.

Why would you have a sign saying stay put and why would anyone be silly enough to listen to you id sue them. And the fire fighters didnt do theie job why would you leave people this neglect

this was a great piece. thank you for sharing.

When something is banned in the UNITED STATES, you know it’s hazardous… why theyd still choose to plate a building with 0 sprinklers on it is beyond me. You’re not that broke to disregard the safety of hundreds…

This was so tragic. I had heard of it but watching documentaries on it and hearing the people scream and cry out and learning their stories is heartbreaking. Im in memphis tn. We often have poor people who also die in house fires. Entire families get wiped out and its usually the poorest. We need to realize these rich people and the governments dont care about us. We should watch out for ourselves.

That's why we don't build high rises in Ireland, they're just a death trap. I cried watching this unfold on TV that night. The tragedy too is that nobody will be held to account in a court of law, nobody is go to jail.

i remember when this happened i assumed this happened in China. I learned something today.

Shouldn't there be standard fire alarms and water sprinklers when a fire happens in any building? Everyone should have been able to know what to do and get out safely and without panic. Being told to sit and wait to be rescued....sorry no I would be out of there with a wet duvet over me. I would rather die walking of you get me.

And nobody did or will ever go to prison for it, how they sleep at night I have no idea.

Did they not have smoke alarms?

When seeing this, it reminded me of 9/11.

And considering that there were two high rises Justice past week that went up in flames. The lessons that were presented here haven't been learned.😢

never "stay Put" always try to leave the area and keep a wet rag over mouth and nose.

- kind'a reminds me of a big island in the south Pacific.

I worked for a company which built its buildings the same way here in Canada just last year. Can't wait for parts 2 and 3 😅

Isn't West London a wealthy area? You'd think they would use good materials

I'm sure the new developer will be more than happy to put some "council estates" in the new plans! They will act like a nice tax shelter!

He was on the 3rd floor?

9/11 meets greenfell

I feel sick when i hear the people begging for help as they are stuck, ww unfortunately know their fate 😢

I was visiting London while this event occured, and continue to visit (I'm in NY USA). I just can't forget the lack of care and concern over these people's lives. The term "Black Lives Matter" make people shut off and not hear what the message is. But there are people in this world that are ignored because they are poor and have lower social status. The residents lives mattered, and they deserved better. Shame on the people that were proud, that they were under budget and cut corners, because they just wanted to save money. Look what happened. I hope they walk around with guilt.

You'll never see a fire like this in any housing for rich people. They do this by design, it's intentional.

Yeah London's Towering Inferno

I never listen to authorities saying... Everything is fine go back

😢

This all could have been prevented with common sense…so infuriating

I knew something was about to happen I just didn’t know what! I live in America.

Sounds to me like the FireBrigade f'd up

Manhattan is 8 million people also

Is this Narnia?

Please make a note that the engulfed Grenfell Tower burned for HOURS and HOURS in full blaze...yet it never fell in free-fall into its own footprint (imagine that!!) unlike, of course, the North & South Twin Towers in New York on 9/11, both buildings that, due to the height of the buildings, been SPECIFICALLY designed and built 33 years prior to withstand the impact of two passenger jets (according to the plaque in the lobby...yes, it stated this and I read it myself AND THIS FACT WAS ALSO TOLD TO ME by a bartender at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the very top floor of the North Tower, where I happened to be having lunch in the 80's, enjoying the view. EVERYONE KNEW THE TOWERS WERE PROUDLY BUILT TO WITHSTAND EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO EACH....but of course both steel buildings "withstood" nothing and fell to the ground like poor quality cinder blocks in 8 seconds from 100 floors up, pancaking in quick succession, after having burned only the top quarter floors. Again, please note that the Grenfell, a rather shoddy piece of architecture after all, remains standing to this day after being ENGULFED! And of course let us not forget Building 7 blocks away from the Twin Towers which also came falling down into its own footprint hours later for no apparent reason after suffering just small fires in some offices on the 4th floor. This tragedy in the UK ALONE is proof that the American people - and the ENTIRE WORLD - were DUPED on 9-11 and that 3200 people were murdered ON THAT FATEFUL DAY by their own government AND FACTIONS THEREOF (including a lying media) in a what was likely a combination of controlled demolition explosives, remote controlled aircraft or missiles and directed energy weapons. Shame on ANYONE who still believes the ridiculous narrative that 12 Muslims possessing piloting skills learned in a week on a Microsoft Simulator computer program and all carrying nothing more than boxcutters, breached security at four different airports on the same morning and then commandeered 4 passenger jets, flying them all with absolute precision into the Towers, a field in Shanksville and the Pentagon, changing the world forever all the while performing maneuvers that hundreds of highly trained pilots with thousands of hours have testified to be an impossibility, warranting a WAR THAT KILLED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN lasting over 20 years. God help us all.

Hummmm and they never worried the building would pancake down like in 911

What is important laptop or life that's crazy

Sacrifice to the devil for more riches.

So no british people living in it at all!!!

These "stupidities" slways happen to poor people.. .

Probably lit it on fire on purpose to get the insurance money and then to kick the immigrants out, demolish the remains and build big houses and apartments.

High density living 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

This was done on purpose

The Ethiopian taxi driver... never would have guessed that.

Even with subtitles I don't understand the Italian guy.

BORING