On 14 June 2017, Grenfell Tower was engulfed by flames as a fire broke out in the building. Before the fire, residents had reported concerns over the fire safety of the construction to the management without positive response. Despite renovation done a year before the incident, their concerns were not addressed, and residents predicted the occurrence of such a tragedy (Laville et al., 2017). Following the density of the tragedy, Investigations were then launched to get to the bottom line on the cause of the inferno by the administration.
An investigation into the cause of the fire revealed that it started from a malfunction on a fridge freezer. The owner of the freezer raised the alarm and fire fighters managed to set it off. However, flames from the fridge spread on to the rest of the building rapidly up the cladding on the outside of the building. The cladding on the building was made of aluminum covered with Reynolux placed over Reynobond polyethylene which was highly flammable. The particular cladding was put into fire tests and failed the safety check (Cambridge, & Lake, 2017). Although the source of the fire was the malfunction on the fridge freezer, the cladding contributed mainly to the spread of the fire.
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Clear evacuation route is one of the most important design considerations in buildings for emergency cases. Grenfell tower lacked a clear evacuation route making it hard for residents to escape. The tower was 230 ft. high and had only one stairway on the inside. Certain design recommendations would have helped control the fire. For instance, Installation of refuge doors and rooms on top floors would have helped rescue residents faster. Correctly designed fire barriers such as fire resistant walls and doors would help contain the fire in one room. Sprinkler systems installed within tower blocks would ensure faster access to water to put out the fire (Fu, 2017).
In conclusion, although most fires are as a result of common mistakes by people and appliance malfunction; architectural engineering designs can play vital roles in fire management. Safety measures are essential during construction as part of the design process. The use of quality materials during construction also accounts a great deal to the safety of the buildings.
References
Laville, S. et al. (2017). Grenfell Tower: Firefighters search overnight with the toll expected to rise. The Guardian . Retrieved on 16 Aug 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/14/fire-24-storey-grenfell-tower-block-white-city-latimer-road-london.
Cambridge, E. & Lake, E. (2017). Beginning of the blaze: What caused the Grenfell Tower fire? Here’s what we know about how the London blaze started. The Sun . Retrieved on 16 August 2017 from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3805218/london-tower-block-fire-grenfell-tower-started-cause/.
Fu, F. (2017). Grenfell Tower disaster: How did the fire spread so quickly? The Conversation . Retrieved on 16 Aug 2017 from http://theconversation.com/grenfell-tower-disaster-how-did-the-fire-spread-so-quickly-79445.
