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Grenfell Inquiry day 56: relations with contractor were ‘toxic’

The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire has heard that the relationship between residents and the contractors carrying out refurbishment on the block was “toxic”.

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Grenfell Inquiry day 56: relations with contractor ‘toxic’ #ukhousing

Samuel Daniels, who lived on the 16th floor of the tower, told the inquiry today how the relationship with Rydon, the firm carrying out refurbishment in the years before the fire, had deteriorated.

Mr Daniels said the refurbishment work was supposed to last 18 months but in fact took two years to complete and “was a nightmare for tenants from the beginning”.

“We were living in a building site all the time,” he said. “There were builders everywhere and constant noise and dust through the windows.”

He added: “The relationship with Rydon was toxic. Residents resented them being there and the disruption to their lives. The builders were rude to residents and we were rude back.”

 

Mr Daniels also criticised the new front doors that were fitted as part of the renovations.

“They were much thinner than the previous doors and I have no idea why we were forced to take them,” he said. “We used to have thick, heavy fire doors that would close themselves if they were left open. The new ones were flimsy and the locking mechanism on my door kept breaking.”

Mr Daniels recalled how the front door of his flat broke a few months before the fire. He called the tenant management organisation, who sent someone to fix it.

He was told that a booking to replace the door would be made, but this had not happened before the fire broke out last June.

“This meant that even though they were supposed to be self-closing, mine was not self-closing at the time of the fire,” he told the inquiry.

Earlier this week, two Notting Hill Housing Trust tenants also told the inquiry that their front doors were not self-closing.

The inquiry also heard how Mr Daniels was forced to leave his father, who had limited mobility and suffered from dementia, facing a “wall of fire” in the flat they shared.

 

In a harrowing evidence session, Mr Daniels, who was a full-time carer for his 69-year-old father Joseph, described his desperate attempts to help him escape the blaze.

“I shouted at my dad to forget his shoes and to leave with me, but he was disoriented and frozen in a daze,” Mr Daniels continued.

“I grabbed him and tried to pull him out with me. I told him we had to go now; I was shaking him and pulling him but because he used to be a body builder, he was still strong.”

Mr Daniels said he knew “he was not strong enough” to move his father so went to get help.

Joseph Daniels was one of 72 people to die in the fire.

His son also told the inquiry that he already had concerns for his father’s safety in the event of a fire, especially as lifts in the block were often out of service.

“In the event of a fire, he wouldn’t be able to escape seeing as he can’t use the stairs,” he said.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Closing statements

 

Day 85: victims' lawyers attack the fire brigade

 

Further expert evidence

Including some additional evidence from emergency call handlers, bereaved and relatives

 

Day 84: further evidence from survivors and relatives

Day 83: swift evacuation of tower possible if residents alerted

Day 82: initial fire was extinguished but then returned to the flat

Day 81: overheating fridge-freezer most likely cause of fire

Day 80: fire doors installed did not match product tested

Day 79: resident advised to stay put despite fire in flat

Day 78: insulation and cladding material below required standard

Day 77: molten plastic spread blaze down tower

Day 76: 'stay put' should be dropped when fire spreads across floors

 

Other witness evidence

Police, ambulance, gas suppliers, council, TMO and call room operators give evidence

 

Day 75: call room operators give evidence

Day 74: further evidence from TMO officers

Day 73: TMO boss failed to pass information to firefighters

Day 72: fire finally extinguished when gas switched off

Day 71: further questions over stay put advice

Day 70: the police evidence

 

The bereaved, survivors and relatives’ evidence

 

Day 69: video shows smoke billowing through fire door

Day 68: KCTMO removed self closing mechanism and never replaced it

Day 67: gaps in cladding fixed with duct tape

Day 66: 'don't fix broken system with a sticking plaster'

Day 65: survivor dragged disabled man down nine floors to safety

Day 64: KCTMO 'did not replace broken fire door'

Day 63: foam insulation inside cladding 'exposed' says survivor

Day 62: father gives harrowing account of son's death

Day 61: council’s management organisation slammed for faulty electrics

Day 60: stay put advice ‘led to deaths’, residents say

Day 59: residents describe problems with new windows

Day 58: survivor describes how daughter saved his life

Day 57: firefighter evidence ‘a slap in the face’, says survivor

Day 56: relations with contractor were ‘toxic’

Day 55: resident 'never happy' with stay-put advice

Day 54: tenant gives evidence about housing association

Day 53: stay put advice 'felt like trap'

Day 52: resident saved by son's phone call

 

The firefighters’ evidence

 

Day 51: firefighter feared encouraging residents to jump

Day 50: the LFB commissioner

Day 49: fire chief reveals frustration over lack of building plans

Day 48: internal fire spread 'bigger story' than cladding

Day 47: fire officer considered evacuating crews over building collapse fears

Day 46: 'we were improvising' senior firefighter admits

Day 45: firefighter urged for abandonment of 'stay put' policy

Day 44: firefighter recalls radio signal difficulties

Day 43: call hander 'uncomfortable' with insisting residents stay put

Day 42: residents only told to leave if they called fire brigade back

Day 41: breathing equipment delay 'hampered rescues on upper floors'

Day 40: chiefs told firefighters to abandon policy

Day 39: firefighters reveal dramatic rescue of children

Day 38: firefighters issue aplogies to families

Day 37: council 'unable to provide tower plans'

Day 36: QC defends inquiry process

Day 35: Javid would welcome interim recommendations

Day 34: water from hose 'too weak' to reach the flames

Day 33: 'oh my god, we've been telling people to stay put'

Day 32: further fire fighter describes lack of equipment and low water pressure

Day 31: 'incredibly difficult' task of recording information outlined

Day 30: struggle to maintain control over rescue operation described

Day 29: fire service 'overwhelmed' by survival guidance calls

Day 28: 'the building beat us'

Day 27: firefighters 'forced to abandon plans to reach roof'

Day 26: poor signage hindered rescue efforts

Day 25: water pressure left firefighting equipment 'like garden hose'

Day 24: decision to abandon 'stay put' explored

Day 23: TV images 'could have assissted' rescue effort

Day 22: description of hectic scenes in the control centre

Day 21: account from the fire service 'nerve centre'

Day 20: firefighter describes 'huge volume' of calls from trapped residents

Day 19: firefighter 'given no training on cladding fires'

Day 18: evacuation would have been 'huge catastrophe'

Day 17: firefighters describe access and lift issues

Day 16: scenes of carnage likened to 9/11

Day 15: firefighters recount trauma of survival guidance calls

Day 14: firefighters describe spread of blaze

Day 13: firefighters recall radio difficulties

Day 12: "it was like a war zone"

Day 11: questions raised over fire fighters' radios

Day 10: watch manager emotional under questioning

Day nine: lead firefighter 'not trained in stay put policy'

 

The expert reports: authors give evidence to inquiry

 

Day eight: where the fire started

Day seven: what was in the cladding?

Day six: the cause and spread of the fire

Day five: expert highlights key issues

Day four: firefighters defend response to fire

Day three: council and contractors appear for the first time

Day two: lawyers for the survivors make their case

Day one: expert evidence released on cladding and stay put

 

The commemoration hearings

 

30 May: Grenfell Council 'recognised it should not house disabled victim above four storeys'

29 May: Anger on day six of the Grenfell Inquiry

25 May: Grenfell families 'forced to live in chimney with stay put policy'

24 May: Grenfell family complained about father being housed on 17th floor

23 May: Tributes to children on third day of Grenfell hearings

22 May: Emotions run high as Grenfell bereaved shown footage of the tower burning

21 May: Grenfell victims share tributes as inquiry opens

 

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