Survivors of London’s Grenfell fire, where 72 perished in a tower block with no sprinklers but lots of flammable cladding, are projecting messages on similarly-unsafe buildings in the UK.
The BBC reports that one of the towers, Frinstead House, is a “stone’s throw” from Grenfell and still has no fire sprinklers.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, which took over management of the high-rise in March last year, said its staff had met residents to talk about sprinklers and other fire safety measures.
It said there was a fire safety programme under way across its borough and it was “seeking clear guidance and recommendations from central government on fire safety systems”.
The inferno highlighted Britain’s shoddy safety standards and the dangers of cladding, often installed on older towers to make them appear more modern. In response, the government banned combustible cladding and mandated sprinklers, but only in new construction: “Building owners are ultimately responsible for the safety of the building and it is for them to decide whether to retro-fit sprinklers.”
