Thread: Huge fire engulfs west London tower block

Sun journalist 'impersonated Grenfell Tower victim's relative at hospital'
King’s College hospital launches complaint with watchdog over behaviour of Sun reporter


@marksweney


Friday 16 June 2017 12.02 BST Last modified on Friday 16 June 2017 12.07 BST


King’s College hospital is to lodge a complaint with the press watchdog over a journalist who allegedly impersonated a relative of a victim of the Grenfell Tower fire in order to get an interview with him.

The hospital is to file a complaint with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) about the behaviour of the Sun reporter. It has also written to News UK, the publisher of the Sun, Times and Sunday Times, about the incident.

“Following an incident at King’s College hospital, we have formally written to the Sun and will be informing the Independent Press Standards Organisation,” said a spokeswoman for King’s College hospital NHS foundation trust. “We are unable to comment on the specifics until our complaint has been investigated.”

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It is understood that the Sun was trying to get an interview with Mario Gomes, a resident on the 21st floor who has been hailed as a hero after racing back into the building to find his 12-year-old daughter.

Sources say a Sun journalist has been accused of attempting to impersonate a relative of Gomes to hospital staff in order to interview him.

News UK claims a Sun journalist had lined up an interview with Gomes via mobile phone messages after being given his number by someone at Grenfell Tower who knew him.

A different Sun journalist, however, made the approach to staff at the hospital for the interview which Gomes then declined because the reporter allegedly claimed to be a relative. News UK denies the reporter attempted to impersonate a relative.

Ipso has not not yet received an official complaint relating to journalists impersonating the relatives of victims to gain access to any hospital.

Such a complaint would be investigated under clause 8 of the editors’ code, relating specifically to hospitals, which has two rules. It states: “Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue inquiries.

“The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to inquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.”

King’s College was one of six London hospitals to receive more than 70 victims of the fire and continues to care for some of those injured.

A spokesman for the newspaper said: “The Sun wants to make it clear that no reporter has ‘impersonated’ any family members.

“The Sun was in contact with one of the people injured in the Grenfell fire, who provided a detailed phone interview for the newspaper. We then visited him in hospital to get a further interview and photos.

“On arrival the Sun reporter and photographer made hospital staff aware that they were present and had been in touch with the contact. However we were informed the contact had changed his mind on the interview and the Sun promptly left the hospital. We completely refute any accusation that our employees acted inappropriately.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ictim-hospital

Death toll at 30 now.

some community

https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2017/06/1...d-31/#comments

All I’ve heard on SKY and the BBC this morning is:
…….community…….community…….community…….community…… .community…….community…….blah blah blah
Really?
I had a quick look at the crime stats for Grenfell Tower, W11 1TG, for March 2017:
“The following table displays Street Level crime within a 1 mile radius of the W11 1TG postcode, crimes are grouped by Crime Category.
The three Categories with the highest amount of crime are highlighted in Red. Categories with no recorded Crimes are highlighted in Green.
Anti-social behaviour 322
Bicycle theft 46
Burglary 76
Criminal damage and arson 82
Drugs 74
Other theft 172
Possession of weapons 13
Public order 95
Robbery 37
Shoplifting 115
Theft from the person 80
Vehicle crime 115
Violence and sexual offences 322
Other crime 25”

https://crime-statistics.co.uk/postcode/W11%201TG

Originally Posted by blue

some community

https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2017/06/1...d-31/#comments

All I’ve heard on SKY and the BBC this morning is:
…….community…….community…….community…….community…… .community…….community…….blah blah blah
Really?
I had a quick look at the crime stats for Grenfell Tower, W11 1TG, for March 2017:
“The following table displays Street Level crime within a 1 mile radius of the W11 1TG postcode, crimes are grouped by Crime Category.
The three Categories with the highest amount of crime are highlighted in Red. Categories with no recorded Crimes are highlighted in Green.
Anti-social behaviour 322
Bicycle theft 46
Burglary 76
Criminal damage and arson 82
Drugs 74
Other theft 172
Possession of weapons 13
Public order 95
Robbery 37
Shoplifting 115
Theft from the person 80
Vehicle crime 115
Violence and sexual offences 322
Other crime 25”

https://crime-statistics.co.uk/postcode/W11%201TG

So you think they deserved to burn to death, then?

Smoke would have killed them, but No.

Is that one of them strawman debating tactics things ?
Stats just show all the media community talk is glib

Originally Posted by blue

Smoke would have killed them, but No.

Not according to the firemen's interviews and tweets.

Originally Posted by blue

Is that one of them strawman debating tactics things ?

Nope. You seem to be going out of your way to convince everyone that the people who were killed were all bad people, muggers, rapists, all sorts of criminals and I just wonder why, considering that it appears hundreds of people have lost their lives and many more lost friends and family members in one of the most agonising ways imaginable, you would think that it's right to paint those same people as criminal scum.

I can't even imagine the kind of thought process that would make somebody looking at a dead child think that the world is now a better and cleaner place but that certainly seems to be the attitude of a number of people on here.

Cladding for Grenfell Tower was cheaper, more flammable option, supplier confirms

Omnis Exteriors asked to supply cladding that was £2 cheaper per square metre than fire-resistant version, investigation confirms

• Grenfell Tower fire - latest updates

Rob Davies
@ByRobDavies

Friday 16 June 2017 13.15 BST First published on Friday 16 June 2017 12.44 BST

Material used in the cladding that covered the Grenfell Tower was the cheaper, more flammable version of the two available options, an investigation of the supply chain has confirmed.

Omnis Exteriors manufactured the aluminium composite material (ACM) used in the cladding, a director, John Cowley, confirmed to the Guardian.

He also said Omnis had been asked to supply Reynobond PE cladding, which is £2 cheaper per square metre than the alternative Reynobond FR, which stands for “fire resistant”.

“We supplied components for a system created by the design and build team on that project,” said Cowley.

Live Grenfell Tower fire: at least 30 confirmed dead – latest updates
Follow the latest updates as Theresa May visits victims in hospital and the Queen goes to the scene in west London
Read more
Harley Facades confirmed it had installed the panels bought from Omnis in the work it performed on Grenfell Tower.

Omnis sold ACM cladding to Harley Facades, which was responsible for installing it.

Construction firm Rydon Maintenance was the lead contractor on the project but sub-contracted elements of the work to smaller companies, including Harley.

The supply chain was revealed in filings at Companies House that reveal CEP Architectural Facades – which has since been bought by the Worcester-based Omnis – was a supplier to Harley Facades’ sister company, Harley Curtain Wall.

CEP’s name appears on a list of firms that were owed money when Harley Curtain Wall collapsed into administration in 2015.

CEP is owned by Omnis Exteriors, which describes itself as a “leading UK manufacturer and supplier of exterior building products and systems”.

Its website states: “With almost 400 multi-storey projects completed, you know that you are in good hands.”

The website also says Omnis manufactures cladding at a workshop in St Helens and has supplied dozens of building projects around the country.

It reported a profit of £1.2m last year, the same year in which the ACM it supplied was installed on Grenfell Tower.

The company also paid a dividend of £950,000 to its sole shareholder, an investment group specialising in construction companies called Xerxes Equity.

The chairman of Xerxes and its largest shareholder is the corporate grandee Tony Rice, who is a former chief executive of the telecoms multinational Cable & Wireless and is also a trustee of the housing charity Shelter.

More to follow ...
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...mnis-exteriors

This is the mini-cab driver whose faulty fridge is alleged to have started the Grenfell Tower inferno, which has so far claimed 17 lives. Behailu Kebede, a father of one, raised the alarm after flames took hold in his flat at number 16 on the fourth floor.

Maryann Adam, 41, who lived at number 14, told how Mr Kebede banged on her front door in the early hours of Wednesday to tell her that there was a fire in his kitchen. She said: ‘He knocked on the door, and he said there was a fire in his flat.

It was exactly 12.50am because I was sleeping and it woke me up. The fire was small in the kitchen. I could see it because the flat door was open. There was no alarm.”

Mr Kebede friend Eshete Meried said the 44-year-old taxi driver originally from Ethiopia, escaped the building – but was still in shock. Another friend said Mr Kebede had spoken to police who are investigating the fire.

In all fairness, I would be reluctant to blame that tenant... as accidents do happen.. more inclined to place the blame with the cheap bastards that elected to use combustible cladding on the building (just to save a measly $9,000)... not to install working sprinklers and inadequate safety procedures, etc... death trap waiting to happen..

Originally Posted by NZdick1983

I would be reluctant to blame that tenant... as accidents do happen.. more inclined to place the blame with the cheap bastards that elected to use combustible cladding on the building (just to save a measly $9,000)... not to install working sprinklers and inadequate safety procedures, etc... death trap waiting to happen..

I will contact him and make him aware of your feelings. I am sure that he will feel much better for knowing them.

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

The fire was small in the kitchen. I could see it because the flat door was open.

So why didn't the twat put the fire out if it was small?

Published on Mar 2, 2015
The Brigade is calling for fridge freezer manufacturers to act now to make their products safer.

More than one fridge freezer fire a week

Despite seven deaths and 71 serious injuries in London since 2010, we believe most manufacturers are still dragging their heels on making fire safety improvements.

Fridge freezer delay putting lives at risk
03 March 2015

We are calling for fridge freezer manufacturers to act now to make their products safer.
More than one fridge freezer fire a week
Despite seven deaths and 71 serious injuries in London since 2010, we believe most manufacturers are still dragging their heels on making fire safety improvements.
There is, on average, one fridge freezer fire a week in the capital and we have been lobbying the industry to make their fridges and freezers more fire resistant for the last three and a half years.
What’s the problem with them?
Fridges and freezers are of particular concern to us because they contain large amounts of plastic and highly flammable insulation, which, if ignited, can cause large, rapidly developing fires that spread quickly, giving off highly toxic gases.
The doors and side panels of most fridges and freezers are usually covered in metal but we are concerned that many still use a flammable plastic backing which offers very little protection against the highly flammable insulation catching alight if a fire starts.
What we want to see happen
We are calling on the industry to ensure the backs of fridge freezers are made of non combustible or fire retardant materials as standard.
What we say
London Fire Brigade Deputy Commissioner Rita Dexter said: "Every home has a fridge or freezer and the chances are it will be plugged in and working safely for years but it is no exaggeration to say that they are potentially the most dangerous household appliances if they are involved in a fire.
"They contain large amounts of highly flammable foam insulation, often only protected by a thin plastic covering. This can be a recipe for disaster if a fault occurs or if a fire spreads from somewhere else to the fridge or freezer. They are also one of the few electrical items in your home to be always left on and these fires pose an even greater risk if they start when people are sleeping.
"Putting a simple non-combustible or fire retardant covering at the back of appliances is a relatively simple change that manufacturers can make and one that we believe would reduce the number of injuries, and potentially deaths, caused by fires involving fridges and freezers."
The tragic death of Santosh Benjamin Muthia
The issue hit the headlines in September last year at the inquest into the death of Santosh Benjamin Muthiah from Harrow who lost his life in a house fire which originated in a fridge freezer. After the hearing, following a submission from London Fire Brigade, the Coroner reported on the serious risk posed to the safety of consumers by the lack of any requirement to use non-flammable materials to protect the highly flammable insulation from ignition.
Shocking footage
Shocking footage filmed by the Brigade at the BRE testing facility(opens in a new window) clearly shows the dangers of having a fridge or freezer with a flammable plastic backing.
In a controlled burn test the plastic backed fridge freezer was well alight after just 90 seconds and had to be extinguished after just two and a half minutes as the fire was starting to overwhelm the testing room, while the fire set in the metal backed appliance, never really took hold, and burned for about 20 minutes before self extinguishing.

London Fire Brigade - Fridge freezer delay putting lives at risk

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

More than one fridge freezer fire a week

from 2015 but I see what you're getting at

The fridge thing, might be a manufacturer fault, but it also might me a 3rd world mentality electrical daisy chain abomination that caused the fire.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

The fire was small in the kitchen. I could see it because the flat door was open.

So why didn't the twat put the fire out if it was small?

Or at least keep the doors and windows closed, some blame must lie with him.

Could have seen it in a mirror but that would mean more than one door was open

Cladding for Grenfell Tower was cheaper, more flammable option

Omnis Exteriors asked to supply cladding £2 cheaper a square metre than fire-resistant type, investigation finds


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...mnis-exteriors

Originally Posted by Thai3

but that would mean more than one door was open

By leaving the door open that maybe caused a draught to intensify the fire?

I think TD CSI is well on its way to crack this case.

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

Fridge freezer delay putting lives at risk3 March 2015


London Fire Brigade - Fridge freezer delay putting lives at risk

I hate to state the obvious but if this was huge issue a high rise would burn everyday in Thailand.

These fookin tools don't even know what an earth wire is or actually give a fook.

I think we can put the spread of fire down to the external cladding on this one.

The flats were home to up to 600 people, with 30 now confirmed dead. There are 24 still receiving treatment, of which 12 are still in critical care. At least 70 are missingLondon fire: Artist named as Grenfell Tower's 4th victim | Daily Mail Online