FILE - In this Wednesday, June 14, 2017 file photo smoke and flames rise from the Grenfell Tower high-rise building in west London. The years-long public inquiry into the 2017 blaze concluded that there was no “single cause” of the tragedy, but said a combination of dishonest companies, weak or incompetent regulators and complacent government led the building to be covered in combustible cladding that turned a small apartment fire into the deadliest blaze on British soil since World War II.
The fire broke out in the early hours of June 14, 2017, in a fourth-floor apartment and spread up the 25-story building like a lit fuse, fueled by flammable cladding panels on the tower’s exterior walls. It said insulation manufacturer Celotex was unscrupulous, and another insulation firm, Kingspan, “cynically exploited the industry’s lack of detailed knowledge.” It said cladding panel maker Arconic “concealed from the market the true extent of the danger.”
London Fire Brigade came in for further criticism for a “chronic lack of effective management and leadership." The report said firefighters were not adequately trained to deal with a high-rise fire and were issued with old communications equipment that didn’t work properly.