Grenfell Tower was completed in 1974.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017, the fire broke out in the the 24-story Grenfell Tower block of public housing flats, in North Kensington, West London, United Kingdom.
Out of the 293 people in the building, Over 70 were injured, 72 people died including 2 who escaped and died in hospital.
The fire burned for 60 hours until finally being extinguished.
On September 14, 2017, the investigation for the cause of the fire began.
Investigators believe that the fire was accidental.
Started by a by a malfunctioning fridge- freezer on the fourth floor.
The fire started in flat 16.
The flat's resident did not have a fire extinguisher but did call neighbors and the London Fire Brigade.
Some residents left early after being alerted by their neighbors, others that had called the fire brigade, where told to stay.
The fire fighters arrived after 6 minutes of the call.
The had the fire in flat 16 put out within minutes.
As fire fighters were leaving, they spotted flames rising up the exterior of the building.
Images later presented during the inquiry suggested that the fire may have reached the exterior via the
kitchen window of the flat before the firefighters had begun to tackle the initial fire.
The flames spread up the side at a "terrifying rate",and a rising column of flames had reached the roof and the fire was out of control.
The fire spread sideways and re-entered the building.
The fire rapidly spread, because of the insulation, the cladding.
The cladding is widely used and history of being highly flammable.
Residents had expressed significant safety concerns before the fire.
In 2013, the Grenfell Action Group (GAG) ran a blog in which it highlighted major safety problems.
The group published a risk assessment by a TMO Health and Safety Officer which recorded safety concerns.
The on site fire fighting equipment hadn't been checked in four years.
The fire extinguishers were expired.
Some of them had the word "condemned" written on them.
GAG attempted numerous times to contact KCTMO management and council's cabinet member for Housing and Property but said they never received a reply.
The council threatened one of the bloggers with legal action, saying that their posts amounted to "defamation and harassment".
In January 2016, GAG pointed out that the building was dangerous.
They stated that the building had only one entrance and exit, and corridors that had been allowed to fill with rubbish, such as old mattresses.
The tower's Leaseholders' Association had also raised concerns about exposed gas pipes in the months before the fire.
Grenfell Tower did not have fire sprinklers.
After the fire leader of the council, Nicholas Brown, said that the Grenfell Tower residents did not have a collective view in favor of installing sprinklers during the recent renovations.
He said if they had been installed, it would have delayed the refurbishment and been more disruptive.
An ITV business editor stated that he had been told that the installation of sprinklers had not even been discussed.
The remains of the building was wrapped in plastic, and is set to be demolished sometime in 2018.
A mystery connected to this is the "Grenfell Tower Baby."
A baby supposedly rescued from the fire, being drop by the baby's mother into a fire fighter's arms as the building goes up in flames. Here is a video on the subject.
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