The Grenfell Tower fire shifted the tectonic plates of British society, triggering a wave of investigations and renewing a national conversation about social housing. One year on, Jack Hardy reviews the major episodes from a traumatic year.
June 14 2017
AT 12.54am, a call is made to the London Fire Brigade. A fire had broken out at a flat on the fourth floor of Grenfell Tower, the tenant informs them. Barely half an hour later, at 1.29am, what started as a small domestic blaze erupted into an inferno that has now climbed to the top floor of the 24-storey block. By 7.55pm the incident commander declares there is no longer any saveable life in the building. Seventy-one people have died. A major relief operation is launched to provide shelter and aid for survivors, largely staffed by volunteers. Anger mounts at the lack of direction from officials at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).
June 16 2017
SHOCK rapidly turns to anger in the borough and tensions threaten to boil over. RBKC, already in the dock over the fate of the council-owned block, faces fierce criticism for leaving survivors in the lurch. Many complain that they feel abandoned by the authority. Protesters march to the council’s headquarters at Kensington Town Hall and storm the building.
June 22 2017
RBKC chief executive Nicholas Holgate stands down.
June 23 2017
THE Metropolitan Police says it is claimed that a faulty fridge started the blaze, but, more tellingly, reveals the cladding and insulation used on the building failed subsequent fire tests. The Government now faces a national safety crisis as local authorities scrabble to find out how many high-rise buildings used similar material on their blocks.
June 28 2017
RETIRED Court of Appeal judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick is appointed to lead a public inquiry.
June 29 2017
RBKC fails in a bid to shut out journalists from its first cabinet meeting since the fire, after the High Court grants access at the 11th hour. The meeting at Kensington Town Hall descends into chaos.
June 30 2017
KENSINGTON and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which manages Grenfell Tower, says chief executive Robert Black is stepping aside. Council leader Nicholas Paget-Brown Paget-Brown finally succumbs to political pressure and also quits his post, followed by his deputy.
July 3 2017
COUNCILLOR Elizabeth Campbell is nominated to replace Mr Paget-Brown as council leader.
July 5 2017
UNRELENTING criticism of RBKC compels the Government to send in a specialist taskforce to help run the troubled borough.
July 10 2017
METROPOLITAN Police Commander Stuart Cundy confirms 255 people survived the fire.
July 27 2017
THE criminal investigation into the disaster starts to take form as Scotland Yard says there is “reasonable grounds” to suspect corporate manslaughter offences may have been committed by RBKC and KCTMO.
July 28 2017
THE Government announces an independent review into building regulations will be led by Dame Judith Hackitt.
August 25 2017
THE Government announces the results of tests carried out on council blocks with ACM cladding. A total of 228 buildings have failed.
October 13 2017
WORK begins to cover the charred tower with scaffolding and white sheeting.
November 16 2017
POLICE say their final estimate for the number of people who died is 70, plus a stillborn baby.
December 14 2017
A MEMORIAL service is held at St Paul’s Cathedral exactly six months after the fire.
January 24 2018
DESPITE promises that survivors would be rehoused quickly, 98 families remain in hotels seven months on from the fire.
January 29 2018
MARIA DEL PILAR BURTON, a 74-year-old survivor known as Pily, dies in palliative care. She comes to be considered the 72nd victim of the fire.
February 21 2018
STORMZY thrusts the disaster back into the public spotlight with a politically charged performance at the Brit awards.
February 27 2018
A TOTAL of 314 tall buildings across the UK have been identified with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), similar to that used on Grenfell Tower, the Government announces.
March 15 2018
FURTHER safety failings at Grenfell Tower are made public by Scotland Yard. They announce that fire doors on the flats in Grenfell Tower could only hold back a blaze for half the time they were supposed to.
May 17 2018
DAME Judith Hackitt publishes her final report on building regulations, calling for a “wholesale culture change” on fire safety along with greater clarity and tighter policing of guidance already in place.
May 21 2018
THE Grenfell Tower public inquiry begins.
June 6 2018
BANNERS are unfurled from the top of the scaffolding now completely surrounding Grenfell Tower.
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