The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast6 Sep 2024

Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Episode 0

In the early hours of the 14th of June 2017, a fire broke out in a tower block in West London. This fire was both a personal tragedy and a national scandal.

It began in Flat 16 of Grenfell Tower. Before long, the flames reached combustible cladding and insulation, which had been installed on the outside of the building. Less than twenty minutes later, the fire had climbed 19 storeys to the top of the tower, ripping through the flammable materials. The tower was engulfed in flames at a staggering speed. Seventy two people lost their lives, hundreds lost their homes.

For the past six years, a public inquiry has been hearing evidence about what lies behind the worst residential fire in UK peacetime in one of the richest areas of the country. Kate Lamble has reported on it since the beginning. And in this series, she tries to understand what created the conditions for a fire which was both foreseeable and preventable.

The answer takes us to the heart of how Britain works, from the government and regulation, to business. This is a story of corporate deceit, government deregulation and a construction industry engaged in a race to the bottom. It’s a story of missed opportunities, unheeded warnings and the failure of a state to protect its citizens.

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Episoder(216)

204 The Phase 2 Report and the End of the Inquiry

The Inquiry’s Phase 2 report was released this week, distilling 400 days of evidence and more than three hundred thousand documents. The report concluded the fire which killed 72 people was the culmin...

6 Sep 202444min

Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 10: The Final Act

As the sun rises, the local council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea are responsible for helping families try and find their loved ones and arranging accommodation for those who have just ...

4 Sep 202415min

Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 8: The Smoke

When Ed Daffarn opens his door in the early hours of the morning of the 14th of June 2017, he is confronted by a wall of thick acrid smoke.As the combustible cladding and insulation burned, smoke gath...

4 Sep 202414min

Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 9: Stay Put

On the top floor of Grenfell Tower, Marcio Gomes and his family are waiting. Outside, the fire has wrapped itself around 3 sides of the building. But Marcio can’t see any of this. He’s relying on the ...

4 Sep 202416min

Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 7: The Fire

In the early hours of the 14th June 2017, the bell in North Kensington’s fire station begins to ring. Firefighter David Badillo assumes it is a routine house fire. He expects that he and his colleague...

4 Sep 202414min

Grenfell: Building a Disaster- Ep 6: Value Engineering

When Grenfell resident Ed Daffarn first heard about the multimillion pound refurbishment of the tower, he welcomed it. The estate had, in his view, become increasingly run down in recent years.But as ...

4 Sep 202415min

Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 5: Single Point of Failure

Why didn't the civil service act on warnings about combustible building materials?You’ve probably not heard of Brian Martin but he’s central to the story of Grenfell. The civil servant responsible for...

4 Sep 202414min