Grenfell Tower Gas Pipes Left Exposed, Despite Fire Safety Expert’s Orders
The title of this post is that of an article in the Guardian.
Read the article and you’ll see the standard of the work done on the gas system in the tower by National Grid.
This is a paragraph.
In March, three months before the blaze, residents told the London fire brigade (LFB) that people living in the 24-storey tower were so scared by the pipes “that they are having a panic attack”.
There is a lot more like that.
Interestingly, Cadent Gas; the division of National Grid that did the work was spun off and is now owned partly by the Qatari government.
A gas system, when it is installed by nincompoops is a disaster waiting to happen.
Workmanship of the quality shown in the pictures would have been rejected by the inspectors on the chemical plants, I worked on in the 1960s, so why when the consultant rejected the installation, was action not taken by Cadent?
The gas may not have caused the Grenfell House fire, but I wonder if the unprotected gas pipe fractured in the heat of the fire and then just added to the inferno.
The Anonymous Widower 
Regulations for gas pipes in flats were tightened up not long after Grenfell tower was built. They are not allowed to pass through different compartments and usually have to be on the outside (you often see this, although on our posher flats they are in an external duct) and made of cast iron (not easily melted) with a gas cock outside the building. The fire brigade arrived within a few minutes and I feel pretty sure one of their first actions would have been to locate the gas cock (in the car park) and turn it off.
Yes mains gas is dangerous, but if not provided tenants bypass the electric meter or bring in Calor gas bottle heaters (a house was destroyed in an explosion caused by misuse of bottle gas in Manchester)
Comment by Mark Clayton | July 6, 2017 |
I have a feeling that someone told me, that Scotland doesn’t allow gas in tower blocks. The only tower block, I’ve ever lived in, had no gas. But that was the Barbican in the City of London.
My opposition to gas is also based on the faqct that naked flames are a major source of asthma.
Comment by AnonW | July 6, 2017 |
This is a disgraceful tale; quite apart from the fire, a resident could have accidentally ruptured a pipe doing normal things – things like moving furniture, and bringing awkward shaped things up to the flats.
WHY does the Qatari govt own some company which deals with things like the gas supply to a London tower block.
Comment by nosnikrapzil | July 6, 2017 |