Calls for charges against the greedy and the guilty for the Grenfell Tower fire are growing, reports Helen Hague
On 14 June, five years ago, toxic flames tore up Grenfell Tower in the early hours, killing 72 people in London’s richest borough. Since the building burned, in dignified silent walks through nearby streets, survivors, the bereaved, supporters and firefighters have ensured that they are not forgotten.
The fifth anniversary silent walk, organised by Grenfell United, ended with repeated calls for “Justice” ringing out from the base of the tower. Five years on, no one has been prosecuted and thousands of buildings remain swathed in combustible cladding.
The Grenfell inquiry is still running – but already enough shocking evidence of corporate greed, lax regulation and safety measures flouted has emerged to ramp up the calls for those responsible to face criminal charges.
Grenfell United banners on the silent walk, featuring damning inquiry evidence, spelt out the growing demands for those responsible to face criminal prosecution with the hashtag #DemandCharges.
North Kensington firefighter Dave Badillo, the first firefighter to enter Grenfell, says his life was changed by what he saw – and what he was unable to do – that night.
He “cried every day” after that chaotic night where, despite their best efforts, firefighters could not reach those who needed rescuing.
With the building filling with toxic smoke, he went with a colleague to the 20th floor to rescue 12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez, whose “panicked and anxious” older sister had passed him the flat keys outside the tower.
With a colleague he battled smoke and toxic fumes, but found the open flat empty. Jessica had gone up to the 23rd floor, where she died with others.
Since that horrendous night, Dave has thrown himself into helping rebuild the community, forging deep bonds with Grenfell residents. He is a regular at the firefighter guard of honour on Ladbroke Grove, part way through the silent walk route – where walkers clapped as they passed by on the fifth anniversary. At a memorial service earlier in the day Dave laid a wreath for those who died on behalf of North Kensington firefighters.
He “cried every day” after that chaotic night where, despite their best efforts, firefighters could not reach those who needed rescuing. He has suffered guilt and nightmares.
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
Like many other firefighters at Grenfell, Dave has had post-traumatic stress counselling. And every time the bells go down, he prays he is not being called to another high-rise wrapped in flammable material.
He fears there could be another Grenfell, as the government has failed to “heed the wake-up call”.
High rises can still have just one stairwell and no fire alarm. And, “disgracefully” the government has ruled out personal evacuation plans for disabled residents, as already recommended by the inquiry – because it would be costly. Fifteen disabled residents died in Grenfell Tower.
Former Hendon station manager Peter Wolfenden is also appalled at government’s refusal to bring in personal emergency egress plans (PEEPS) to help disabled people escape.
He spent six hours in the Grenfell Tower lobby in the early hours, passing on details of residents trapped in the building, unsure if it was about to collapse. He watched anxious firefighters return from smoke-filled stairwells, some carrying casualties, some unable to speak.
WARNING WHISTLES SCREAMING
Their effort to save life, was, he says, “total”, with many firefighters staying up the stairs and corridors filled with toxic smoke, “warning whistles on their breathing apparatus screaming”.
Firefighters rescued Nicholas Burton and his wife Pily from their flat on the 19th floor, guiding them down the toxic smoke filled stairwell.
They left the building at 2.33am. Pily, who had dementia, later died as a result of the blaze. Since the fire, Nicholas has forged strong links with North Kensington firefighters and has attended the inquiry as both witness and observer.
He wept when he heard Dave’s testimony on trying to rescue Jessica. He says the government’s refusal to bring in PEEPS is a “punch in the stomach”.
Nicholas says people who survived the night and lost relatives need to see those responsible for their loss held to account and thought rapper Lowkey caught the growing mood on the fifth anniversary gathering:
“Can the system give us justice or does it lack the will to try? It’s five years and not one executive is inside. This is a message to the government and I bet it gets through – you arrest them or we arrest you.”
Increasingly, people are speaking out.
At a Grenfell memorial service at Westminster Abbey, veteran journalist Jon Snow said those responsible for the fire “must face justice”.
Meanwhile, Nicholas and others who lost loved ones at Grenfell, watch, wait and campaign to get justice. “At this rate it could be a decade before people go to prison. We need to up the ante,” he says.
“All this evidence, still no closure, still no action, still no justice #DemandCharges”
