This is a difficult watch filled with soul-crushing testimony

The Advertiser

3 days ago

Grenfell Uncovered
(M, 101 minutes, Netflix)
4 stars
Avoidable.
That's a big takeaway from this devastating and eye-opening Netflix documentary. The loss of 72 innocent lives was avoidable.
The Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 probably still looms large in many people's minds.
The high-rise unit block was full of families when a small fire in one apartment turned into an unmitigated disaster in the early hours of June 14.
What should have been safely contained in a relatively short amount of time ended up engulfing the whole 24-storey tower due to the use of highly flammable plastic-infused cladding on the outside of the building. It was like The Towering Inferno had come to life.
This documentary, from first-time director Olaide Sadiq, speaks to former residents of the tower, family members of tower residents, firefighters, journalists, building and fire experts, lobbyists, a lawyer and even then-British prime minister Theresa May.
The picture it paints is frustratingly clear: if advice had been acted upon sooner, 72 lives may have been saved.
Through Grenfell Uncovered we learn that the company which manufactured the cladding which was used to beautify the tower in the years before the disaster (being built in the early 1970s, Grenfell was considered an eyesore at the time, and the new facade was supposed to bring the tower up to modern aesthetic standards) had for years known that their product had a high fire risk - a risk which grew exponentially with the height of the building.
The cladding was bound with a polyethylene core, and that particular product was illegal to use on apartment buildings in the US and elsewhere in Europe. However, the UK was lagging behind in regulations and the product was technically allowable at the time it was installed, even though it should never have been on the market.
Experts explain that the David Cameron government (2010-16) had a deregulation agenda, and its members were forbidden from introducing any new regulations without first getting rid of an existing one. As such, repeated calls for changes to fire safety process and building requirements fell on deaf ears.
Aside from the cladding, Grenfell Uncovered also goes into the outdated and ineffective "stay put" policy of the London Fire Brigade. This policy, which was standard for high-rise buildings at the time, instructed residents not to evacuate their homes, but instead to stay inside until told otherwise by firefighters.
The advice would have been solid in a building that wasn't clad with flammable material, leading to an uncontainable spread of the fire. But this was not the case at Grenfell, and residents on higher floors who followed the advice found themselves unable to escape.
The firefighters were also untrained in the nature of cladding fires, something that should have been put into place well before the disaster struck.
In a film filled with horrible, soul-crushing testimony, it is perhaps the experiences of the firefighters that is the most harrowing to watch. One tells of his plight to find a young girl named Jessica after her sister asked him to bring her out from their flat. But he would never find her. Another tells one of the more emotionally devastating stories you'll ever hear, of staying on the phone with a young mother trapped in an apartment in the inaccessible upper storeys of the building, until she was no longer talking.
Grenfell Uncovered is a difficult watch, especially considering how avoidable the whole tragedy was. But it also feels like incredibly necessary viewing for anyone in a position of governance, fire management or tenant management. There's a clear indication of the importance of listening to safety advice, and change should not only be made after dozens of lives are lost.
Grenfell Uncovered
(M, 101 minutes, Netflix)
4 stars
Avoidable.
That's a big takeaway from this devastating and eye-opening Netflix documentary. The loss of 72 innocent lives was avoidable.
The Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 probably still looms large in many people's minds.
The high-rise unit block was full of families when a small fire in one apartment turned into an unmitigated disaster in the early hours of June 14.
What should have been safely contained in a relatively short amount of time ended up engulfing the whole 24-storey tower due to the use of highly flammable plastic-infused cladding on the outside of the building. It was like The Towering Inferno had come to life.
This documentary, from first-time director Olaide Sadiq, speaks to former residents of the tower, family members of tower residents, firefighters, journalists, building and fire experts, lobbyists, a lawyer and even then-British prime minister Theresa May.
The picture it paints is frustratingly clear: if advice had been acted upon sooner, 72 lives may have been saved.
Through Grenfell Uncovered we learn that the company which manufactured the cladding which was used to beautify the tower in the years before the disaster (being built in the early 1970s, Grenfell was considered an eyesore at the time, and the new facade was supposed to bring the tower up to modern aesthetic standards) had for years known that their product had a high fire risk - a risk which grew exponentially with the height of the building.
The cladding was bound with a polyethylene core, and that particular product was illegal to use on apartment buildings in the US and elsewhere in Europe. However, the UK was lagging behind in regulations and the product was technically allowable at the time it was installed, even though it should never have been on the market.
Experts explain that the David Cameron government (2010-16) had a deregulation agenda, and its members were forbidden from introducing any new regulations without first getting rid of an existing one. As such, repeated calls for changes to fire safety process and building requirements fell on deaf ears.
Aside from the cladding, Grenfell Uncovered also goes into the outdated and ineffective "stay put" policy of the London Fire Brigade. This policy, which was standard for high-rise buildings at the time, instructed residents not to evacuate their homes, but instead to stay inside until told otherwise by firefighters.
The advice would have been solid in a building that wasn't clad with flammable material, leading to an uncontainable spread of the fire. But this was not the case at Grenfell, and residents on higher floors who followed the advice found themselves unable to escape.
The firefighters were also untrained in the nature of cladding fires, something that should have been put into place well before the disaster struck.
In a film filled with horrible, soul-crushing testimony, it is perhaps the experiences of the firefighters that is the most harrowing to watch. One tells of his plight to find a young girl named Jessica after her sister asked him to bring her out from their flat. But he would never find her. Another tells one of the more emotionally devastating stories you'll ever hear, of staying on the phone with a young mother trapped in an apartment in the inaccessible upper storeys of the building, until she was no longer talking.
Grenfell Uncovered is a difficult watch, especially considering how avoidable the whole tragedy was. But it also feels like incredibly necessary viewing for anyone in a position of governance, fire management or tenant management. There's a clear indication of the importance of listening to safety advice, and change should not only be made after dozens of lives are lost.
Grenfell Uncovered
(M, 101 minutes, Netflix)
4 stars
Avoidable.
That's a big takeaway from this devastating and eye-opening Netflix documentary. The loss of 72 innocent lives was avoidable.
The Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 probably still looms large in many people's minds.
The high-rise unit block was full of families when a small fire in one apartment turned into an unmitigated disaster in the early hours of June 14.
What should have been safely contained in a relatively short amount of time ended up engulfing the whole 24-storey tower due to the use of highly flammable plastic-infused cladding on the outside of the building. It was like The Towering Inferno had come to life.
This documentary, from first-time director Olaide Sadiq, speaks to former residents of the tower, family members of tower residents, firefighters, journalists, building and fire experts, lobbyists, a lawyer and even then-British prime minister Theresa May.
The picture it paints is frustratingly clear: if advice had been acted upon sooner, 72 lives may have been saved.
Through Grenfell Uncovered we learn that the company which manufactured the cladding which was used to beautify the tower in the years before the disaster (being built in the early 1970s, Grenfell was considered an eyesore at the time, and the new facade was supposed to bring the tower up to modern aesthetic standards) had for years known that their product had a high fire risk - a risk which grew exponentially with the height of the building.
The cladding was bound with a polyethylene core, and that particular product was illegal to use on apartment buildings in the US and elsewhere in Europe. However, the UK was lagging behind in regulations and the product was technically allowable at the time it was installed, even though it should never have been on the market.
Experts explain that the David Cameron government (2010-16) had a deregulation agenda, and its members were forbidden from introducing any new regulations without first getting rid of an existing one. As such, repeated calls for changes to fire safety process and building requirements fell on deaf ears.
Aside from the cladding, Grenfell Uncovered also goes into the outdated and ineffective "stay put" policy of the London Fire Brigade. This policy, which was standard for high-rise buildings at the time, instructed residents not to evacuate their homes, but instead to stay inside until told otherwise by firefighters.
The advice would have been solid in a building that wasn't clad with flammable material, leading to an uncontainable spread of the fire. But this was not the case at Grenfell, and residents on higher floors who followed the advice found themselves unable to escape.
The firefighters were also untrained in the nature of cladding fires, something that should have been put into place well before the disaster struck.
In a film filled with horrible, soul-crushing testimony, it is perhaps the experiences of the firefighters that is the most harrowing to watch. One tells of his plight to find a young girl named Jessica after her sister asked him to bring her out from their flat. But he would never find her. Another tells one of the more emotionally devastating stories you'll ever hear, of staying on the phone with a young mother trapped in an apartment in the inaccessible upper storeys of the building, until she was no longer talking.
Grenfell Uncovered is a difficult watch, especially considering how avoidable the whole tragedy was. But it also feels like incredibly necessary viewing for anyone in a position of governance, fire management or tenant management. There's a clear indication of the importance of listening to safety advice, and change should not only be made after dozens of lives are lost.
Grenfell Uncovered
(M, 101 minutes, Netflix)
4 stars
Avoidable.
That's a big takeaway from this devastating and eye-opening Netflix documentary. The loss of 72 innocent lives was avoidable.
The Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 probably still looms large in many people's minds.
The high-rise unit block was full of families when a small fire in one apartment turned into an unmitigated disaster in the early hours of June 14.
What should have been safely contained in a relatively short amount of time ended up engulfing the whole 24-storey tower due to the use of highly flammable plastic-infused cladding on the outside of the building. It was like The Towering Inferno had come to life.
This documentary, from first-time director Olaide Sadiq, speaks to former residents of the tower, family members of tower residents, firefighters, journalists, building and fire experts, lobbyists, a lawyer and even then-British prime minister Theresa May.
The picture it paints is frustratingly clear: if advice had been acted upon sooner, 72 lives may have been saved.
Through Grenfell Uncovered we learn that the company which manufactured the cladding which was used to beautify the tower in the years before the disaster (being built in the early 1970s, Grenfell was considered an eyesore at the time, and the new facade was supposed to bring the tower up to modern aesthetic standards) had for years known that their product had a high fire risk - a risk which grew exponentially with the height of the building.
The cladding was bound with a polyethylene core, and that particular product was illegal to use on apartment buildings in the US and elsewhere in Europe. However, the UK was lagging behind in regulations and the product was technically allowable at the time it was installed, even though it should never have been on the market.
Experts explain that the David Cameron government (2010-16) had a deregulation agenda, and its members were forbidden from introducing any new regulations without first getting rid of an existing one. As such, repeated calls for changes to fire safety process and building requirements fell on deaf ears.
Aside from the cladding, Grenfell Uncovered also goes into the outdated and ineffective "stay put" policy of the London Fire Brigade. This policy, which was standard for high-rise buildings at the time, instructed residents not to evacuate their homes, but instead to stay inside until told otherwise by firefighters.
The advice would have been solid in a building that wasn't clad with flammable material, leading to an uncontainable spread of the fire. But this was not the case at Grenfell, and residents on higher floors who followed the advice found themselves unable to escape.
The firefighters were also untrained in the nature of cladding fires, something that should have been put into place well before the disaster struck.
In a film filled with horrible, soul-crushing testimony, it is perhaps the experiences of the firefighters that is the most harrowing to watch. One tells of his plight to find a young girl named Jessica after her sister asked him to bring her out from their flat. But he would never find her. Another tells one of the more emotionally devastating stories you'll ever hear, of staying on the phone with a young mother trapped in an apartment in the inaccessible upper storeys of the building, until she was no longer talking.
Grenfell Uncovered is a difficult watch, especially considering how avoidable the whole tragedy was. But it also feels like incredibly necessary viewing for anyone in a position of governance, fire management or tenant management. There's a clear indication of the importance of listening to safety advice, and change should not only be made after dozens of lives are lost.