Grenfell Tower Fire Part II

 

Polyisocyanurate insulation

The refurbishment also used an insulation foam product named Celotex RS5000, installed behind the cladding. Police said this insulation proved "more flammable than the cladding".

According to its datasheet, the polyisocyanurate (PIR) product—charred pieces of which littered the area around Grenfell Tower after the fire—"will burn if exposed to a fire of sufficient heat and intensity". PIR insulation foams "will, when ignited, burn rapidly and produce intense heat, dense smoke and gases which are irritating, flammable and/or toxic", among them carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. The fire toxicity of polyisocyanurate foams has been well understood for some time.

At least three survivors were treated for cyanide poisoning. Simultaneous exposure to carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide is more lethal than exposure to the gases separately.

Celotex's Rainscreen Compliance Guide, when specifying Celotex RS5000 in buildings above 18 m (59 ft), sets out the conditions under which the product was tested and for which it has been certified as meeting the required fire safety standards. These include the use of (non-combustible) 12 mm (0.47 inches) fibre cement rainscreen panels, ventilated horizontal fire breaks at each floor slab edge and vertical non-ventilated fire breaks. It states that any changes from the tested configuration "will need to be considered by the building designer".

Cavity barriers

It has been asserted[by whom?] that cavity barriers intended to prevent the spread of fire in the gap between the façade and the building (the chimney effect) were of insufficient size and, in some cases, incorrectly installed, facilitating the spread of fire.

Windows

It has been asserted that windows and their surrounds installed as part of the refurbishment were less fire resistant than those they replaced due to the materials used and that the windows were of insufficient size necessitating larger surrounds. This would facilitate the spread of fire between the interior and exterior of the building.

Criticism of the fire response

Criticism of the response to the fire primarily consisted of condemnation of issues with the emergency response and fire safety regulation practices in the UK at the time. Broader political criticism was also directed at British society, including condemnation of the response by governmental bodies and UK politicians, social divisions, deregulation issues, and poor transparency overall.

Fire and structural safety reviews

United Kingdom

In the days after the fire, UK local authorities undertook reviews of fire safety in their residential tower blocks. Building regulations also came under review in the light of the fire due to concerns with the rules and their enforcement. A parliamentary search briefing from August 2017 provided an overview of the legal framework under which fire risks in tower blocks were managed in England.

On 30 August 2017, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) published the terms of reference for the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. This independent review was led by Dame Judith Hackitt, who is a senior engineer and civil servant with experience as the Chair of the Health and Safety Executive. The review reported to both DCLG head, James Brokenshire (Sajid Javid at the time the report was commissioned) and Home Secretary, Sajid Javid (Amber Rudd at the time the report was commissioned). The two main aims of the review are firstly to develop improved building regulations for the future, with a focus on residential high-rise blocks, and secondly to provide reassurance to residents that their homes are safe.

The DCLG commissioned tests on how various cladding systems fared in a fire. Seven combinations were tested, and six deemed dangerous. It reported in August 2017 that there were 228 buildings in the United Kingdom cladded using these methods. There are no existing buildings in the UK using the one combination deemed safe, but it could be used to reclad all the buildings that are currently using the other combinations. These findings will be used to help revise the Building Regulations.

On 18 December 2017, Hackitt published her initial report. She described the entire building regulatory system as "not fit for purpose" and made interim recommendations for significant change. The final report was published on 17 May 2018, outlining a number of key failings and recommendations. The report did not recommend a ban on the use of combustible cladding on high rise buildings and Hackitt did say that she would support the government if it was to attempt to legislate a ban. Recommendations will be reconsidered after the conclusion of the public inquiry. The government is consulting on a possible ban on combustible materials. It is unclear if this applies only to cladding or to insulation as well.

In October 2018, the government announced plans to ban flammable cladding on newly built buildings that were over 18 m (59 ft), as well as for those of certain types such as schools, care homes and student housing. The Fire Brigades Union have argued that it should be entirely banned, and that a ban should also apply to existing buildings.

By November 2019, the Government had identified 446 residential and publicly owned buildings in England over 18 m in height with ACM cladding of the kind used on Grenfell Tower that were unlikely to meet Building Regulations and had pledged £600 million towards paying for remediation. However, as investigations arising from the Grenfell disaster proceeded, along with the Barking Riverside fire in June 2019 and the Bolton Cube fire in November 2019, it became clear that far more buildings in the UK either used materials that did not meet safety standards or were otherwise not constructed in accordance with building regulations. By June 2020, around 2,000 high-risk buildings had been identified over 18m tall in England alone; a further 9,600 high-rise buildings thought to have combustible cladding; and 100,000 between 11 and 18 metres whose status was as yet unknown. In 2019, there was a collapse in confidence in the safety of blocks of flats among mortgage lenders and insurers, leading to the freezing of a substantial section of the UK housing market. By February 2021, the government had pledged somewhat over £5 billion towards the remediation of fire safety problems—a figure that still fell far short of the costs involved, many of which were being borne by owners of flats who had bought them in the belief that they had been built legally.

On 22 June 2020, another London tower block, "Ferrier Point" in Canning Town, Newham was evacuated after a flat fire that occurred on the fourth floor of the tower at around 18:20. Around 60 firefighters attended to fight the fire which was under control by 20:15. The tower block had contained the exact same aluminium composite cladding as the one at Grenfell, but this was removed a year before the fire occurred. Residents were noted as saying that the just-in-time removal of the cladding prevented another tragedy on the scale of Grenfell.

International

In Australia, authorities decided to remove similar cladding from all its tower blocks. It was stated that every tower block built in Melbourne in the previous 20 years had the cladding. In Malta, the Chamber of Engineers and the Chamber of Architects urged the Maltese Government to update the building regulations with regards to fire safety. On 27 June 2017, an 11-storey tower block in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany was evacuated after it was found that the cladding was similar to that installed on Grenfell Tower.

A month after the fire at Grenfell Tower the external cladding of the newly built 433-room Hilton Hotel at Schiphol airport in The Netherlands was partly removed, over concerns of fire safety. Allegedly due to financial problems at the supplier, the material used did not meet the approved standards. Additional to the replacement, an external video system was installed specifically to detect fires. Also a university building in Rotterdam was found to have the same cladding and was subsequently closed and refurbished. 'Dozens' of other buildings in The Netherlands allegedly suffer the same defects.

Days after the fire, the Gibraltar Government ordered a review of the cladding found in all the tower blocks in the British Territory. Fortunately, it was found that the cladding used was non-flammable and therefore not of the same type as at Grenfell.

In response to Grenfell Tower and similar high-rise fires in the Middle East involving exterior cladding, the United Arab Emirates updated its Fire and Life Safety Code in 2018 to mandate the use of the NFPA 285 fire safety test.

Investigations

The local borough pledged to carry out a full investigation into the fire. Prime Minister Theresa May ordered a full public inquiry, saying that people "deserve answers" to why the fire was able to spread as quickly as it did.

In July 2017, the government offered an amnesty to those who had been illegally sub-letting and a one-year immigration amnesty to those who came forward with information, though did not offer a full guarantee against deportation. On 31 August 2017 Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis announced that the deadline to register for the one-year immigration amnesty for displaced undocumented residents of Grenfell Tower was to be extended by three months to 30 November 2017. Sir Martin Moore-Bick (who lead the public inquiry) wrote to the Prime Minister asking her to consider the long-term future for these residents beyond their value as witnesses for the inquiry. These views were echoed by campaign groups BMELawyers4Grenfell and Justice4Grenfell.

On 16 September 2019 it was reported that London Fire Brigade as a body have been interviewed by Metropolitan Police under caution in respect of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. In a press statement, LFB Commissioner Dany Cotton said the brigade had been subject to police investigation from just after the fire; hundreds of officers had given voluntary police interviews; and LFB would continue to assist investigators.

Leilani Farha argued that the failings of Grenfell Tower were a breach of residents' human rights, because they were not sufficiently involved in the way the building was developed, notably safety issues, before the fire and are not sufficiently involved in the investigations after the fire.

Criminal

On 15 June 2017, Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy announced that a criminal investigation had been opened to establish if there was any case for charges to be brought. On 27 July 2017, police issued a public notice to residents saying that they had "reasonable grounds" to suspect that both the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation "may have committed" corporate manslaughter. Senior representatives of both organizations are likely to face police interviews under caution. More than sixty companies and organisations are associated with Grenfell Tower, and as of July 2017, police were keeping open all options for a range of possible charges. These include manslaughter, corporate manslaughter, misconduct in public office and fire safety offenses.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard on 7 August 2017, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, said investigations are at an early stage and nothing is ruled out. Mrs Saunders said it was more important to build strong cases than to rush to court, and that the DPP had yet to see the evidence. Health and safety legislation and other criminal laws will be considered. If proven, the offence of gross negligence manslaughter carries a maximum life sentence, with a guideline minimum of twelve years. For such a charge the prosecution must show sufficient evidence to pass a four-stage "Adomako Test" proving a reprehensible breach of duty of care which caused or contributed to the victims' death.

On 7 June 2018, BBC News reported that the Met Police are investigating the London Fire Brigade for using the "Stay Put" policy. Possible criminal offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act are under consideration.

As of 7 June 2019, thirteen interviews had been held under caution with more expected, and 7,100 statements had been taken from witnesses, family members, emergency service personnel and others. In March 2019, the Met Police said that no criminal charges were likely before late 2021.

Police investigations are independent from the Inquiry and cannot use it directly as evidence, although it will be studied carefully. Following publication on 4 September 2024, Met Police said it would take "at least 12–18 months" before cases could be presented. The CPS stated they did not expect any charging decisions before the end of 2026.

Fraudulent claims

On 19 September 2017, Commander Stuart Cundy briefed that eight people were being investigated for allegedly making false claims to financial support in the name of fictitious victims. By 1 June 2018, five people had been convicted for fraud offences after stating they were victims of the fire to claim financial support.

New arrests were made in London on 7 June 2018 of a further nine people suspected of fraud. Four were charged a day later. Three people were charged with fraud while one additional suspect was initially charged with drug and theft offences but was eventually charged with fraud on 19 July. The other five were released under investigation.

By March 2020, twenty one people had been charged with fraud offences relating to the fire, with all of them being found guilty after twenty investigations by the Metropolitan Police and one investigation by the City of London Police Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department. They were given prison sentences totaling almost 90 years in total after fraudulently claiming around £1 million in pre-paid credit cards, hotel accommodation costs and other funds intended for the victims of the fire.

All of those convicted of fraud stated that they lived in the tower block and that their homes had been destroyed, and many said that members of their family had been killed. They spent their money on lavish holidays, expensive cars and gambling, and some even asked for more money after complaining about the food and WiFi in the hotels they were being housed in. Three of those convicted were also found to have been illegal immigrants living in the UK, and one man was caught with quantities of illegal drugs in his hotel room. Another man was also found to have committed a burglary. A woman who pretended to be a Grenfell victim was found to have made more than fifty false claims to insurers and to have also said she was present at the Manchester Arena bombing and the London Bridge attack just weeks earlier.

Forensic search and recovery

Detailed investigations into the causes and possible criminal charges of manslaughter or breach of regulations are in progress. Search dogs, fingertip searches, DNA matching, fingerprinting, forensic dentistry and forensic anthropologists have been used. An external lift was fitted to the building to improve access.

The scale of the search and recovery operation was challenging. Human remains were mixed within an estimated 15.5 tonnes (17.1 tons) of debris on every floor. Time and care was taken during Disaster Victim Identification to maintain a judicial standard and avoid mistaken identity, which could have caused further distress to surviving relatives.

Fire brigade

Following the Newsnight report of 7 July 2017, the LFB said issues encountered in its response to the fire would also form part of the police investigation. LFB Commissioner Dany Cotton said in a Channel 4 News interview on 11 July 2017 that she expected reasonable criticism of the LFB response in the investigation and public inquiry. Following criticism by survivors and victims families, Cotton retired early at the end of December 2019. Her replacement from 1 January 2020 is Deputy Commissioner Andrew Roe.

BBC Radio 4 reported on 16 August 2017 that the Fire Brigade was advised by KCTMO during the refurbishment and fire officers had been shown "fire safety features". Council opposition leader Robert Atkinson, structural engineer Paul Follows and building inspector Geoff Wilkinson all expressed shock that the fire had happened given prior consultation with LFB.

London Fire Brigade said it had not given approval for the work, saying its legal powers are limited. It said firefighters regularly visit buildings to gain familiarity with the layout and equipment, but that this was not the same as a detailed inspection.

Public inquiry

One day after the fire broke out, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a public inquiry into the causes of the fire. Two weeks later, Sir Martin Moore-Bick was appointed to lead it. He pledged that the inquiry would be "open, transparent and fair". The inquiry will run alongside the criminal investigations.

On 15 August 2017, Theresa May announced the terms of reference, accepting in full Moore-Bick's proposals. The inquiry plans to examine the cause and spread of the fire, the adequacy and enforcement of building regulations and fire protection measures, the actions of the council and KCTMO prior to the fire, and the responses of the London Fire Brigade, council and national government. Labor Party politicians and some survivors called for the inquiry to include a broader examination of national social housing policy, which was not included in the terms of reference. The inquiry's public hearings started on 14 September 2017.

The first report (Phase 1) from the inquiry was officially published on 30 October 2019, but had been leaked and publicised during the press embargo. Originally due in spring 2019, the date was pushed back to October. Moore-Bick told survivors the timing disappointed him.

Moore-Bick's report affirmed the exterior cladding was the primary reason the fire spread out of control, and that it did not comply with the building regulations. He praised the "courage and devotion to duty" of the firefighters but argued LFB suffered from "significant systemic failings" and that incident commanders were not trained to deal with a failure of compartmentation of this scale. The report was welcomed by survivors. On 6 December, Dany Cotton announced she would retire earlier than planned.

The inquiry resumed with Phase 2 on 28 January 2020. The final report was published on 4 September 2024. The inquiry formally closed on 10 February 2025. The Government published its response and recommendations on 26 February 2025.

Equality and Human Rights Commission report

The Following Grenfell report (March 2019) observes that children who witnessed the fire, or who have lost a friend or part of their family, did not know where or how to access help because the services are not available.

The EHRC report expressed particular concern around the placing of disabled people, including wheelchair users, on upper storeys of tower blocks without any consideration about how they could escape in a fire or other emergency. The report considered disabled people had faced discriminatory treatment amounting to breaches of the right to life, the right to safe, adequate housing; and the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, further noting that degrading treatment continued after the fire with disabled people being housed in inaccessible premises.

Civil lawsuit

On 11 June 2019, survivors and families of the victims of the fire filed a civil action complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia against Arconic and Celotex (both of which are headquartered in Pennsylvania), seeking an unspecified amount of money damages for various product liability claims. The 420-page complaint alleged that the cladding and insulation were defective because they lacked fire retardant and were therefore combustible. Whirlpool, the Michigan-based manufacturer of the Hotpoint refrigerator believed to have caused the fire, was also named as a defendant in the suit on the grounds that the refrigerator contained materials liable to catch fire.

By August, the defendants had exercised their right to remove the case to the appropriate federal court: the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In November 2019, Arconic resisted production of documents (which were already in the possession of its American lawyers at DLA Piper) on the basis that the cladding at issue had been manufactured by a French subsidiary, Arconic Architectural Products SAS, and that French law prohibits the production of commercial information in foreign legal proceedings without authorization by a French court. Arconic retained French lawyer Noëlle Lenoir as its expert witness on this issue, and she reviewed 43,303 documents to identify which ones could be disclosed to the plaintiffs. According to its US corporate filings, as of November 2019, Arconic had already spent approximately £30 million on lawyers and advisers to respond to all the criminal and civil investigations, inquiries, and litigation arising out of the fire.

On 16 September 2020, the district court filed a lengthy order granting the defendants' motion to dismiss on the grounds of forum non conveniens (meaning the dismissal was without prejudice to filing claims in English courts). The order, signed by Judge Michael Baylson, acknowledged that the parties' submissions showed that the potential compensatory and punitive damages for the plaintiffs' claims would be higher under Pennsylvania law than English law, but ruled that many other factors weighed in favor of dismissal. The order allowed the plaintiffs to use evidence already obtained through US discovery in support of their claims in English courts, and left open the possibility that they could come back if the English courts were to decide that Pennsylvania law applies to their claims and one or more defendants may be liable for punitive damages under Pennsylvania law. On 8 July 2022, the Third Circuit filed an unpublished opinion signed by Judge Thomas L. Ambro which largely affirmed the district court's dismissal order. However, the Third Circuit also expressly reversed the part of the district court's order which had left open a path for the plaintiffs to come back from English courts. On 21 February 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court filed a terse one-line order summarily denying the plaintiffs' petition for certiorari, which meant their case was over (as far as the U.S. courts were concerned).

Civil settlement

In April 2023, a group of 22 parties including cladding company Arconic, Whirlpool, RBKC, KCTMO, and three central government departments, reached a settlement with 900 people, for about £150 million. Represented by a group of fourteen law firms, claims were initially brought in the English High Court and were then later moved to alternative dispute resolution (specifically, mediation before Lord Neuberger). Contributions are also to be made to a restorative justice community project. This outcome does not affect the possibility of future criminal charges, which are to be decided by the CPS following publication of the inquiry report, which was released on 4 September 2024.

Professional misconduct

On 26 February 2025 it was announced that seven organisations are to be investigated under the Procurement Act 2023. These are:

Arconic Architectural Products SAS

Saint-Gobain Construction Products UK Limited

Exova (UK) Limited

Harley Facades Limited

Kingspan Insulation Limited

Rydon Maintenance Limited

Studio E Architects Limited

Angela Rayner, serving at the time as Housing Secretary, remarked that regulators had failed and that her department had "failed to act on known risks and ignored, delayed, or disregarded matters affecting the safety of life".

Demolition and memorial

As of February 2025, deconstruction has still not started, more than seven years later. Structural engineers have advised that the tower poses a risk. The government has said the tower should be "carefully taken down". Plans for the site were expected to be published by the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission, established in 2018. Lockwood and Thelma Stober were elected as co-chairs in 2020.

In July 2024, the Royal Institute of British Architects started selecting design teams to create a memorial. In January 2025, RIBA and the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission announced the names of five teams shortlisted to design the future memorial on the tower's site.

On 5 February 2025, Angela Rayner, then deputy prime minister, told bereaved relatives and survivors that a decision had been made to demolish Grenfell Tower. The plans were confirmed on 7 February 2025, with dismantling of the tower expected to take two years. In April 2025, the contract to demolish the tower was awarded to Deconstruct UK, the company currently maintaining the site, due to its knowledge of the building's structure and surrounding area. Each floor is expected to take one month to demolish, with the tower having 24 floors in total. Demolition began in September 2025.

Similar disasters

The following are similar fires that spread through exterior wall assemblies (cladding, insulation, wall) containing combustible components. Most of them involved high-rise buildings.

United Kingdom and Isle of Man

The 2005 Harrow Court fire in Stevenage caused three deaths

1973 Summerland disaster – leisure centre fire in Douglas, Isle of Man, worsened by the ignition of flammable acrylic sheeting covering the building, led to at least 50 deaths.

1991 Knowsley Heights fire – a fire in a tower block in Liverpool that had recently been fitted with rain screen cladding spread from the bottom to the top of the building via the 90 mm (3.5 in) air gap behind the cladding.

1999 Garnock Court fire – the fire in a tower block in Irvine, North Ayrshire, spread rapidly up combustible cladding, resulting in one death and four injured. The incident led to a parliamentary inquiry into the fire risk of external cladding and a change of the law in Scotland in 2005 requiring any cladding to inhibit the spread of fire.

2005 Harrow Court fire – in a tower block in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, led to three deaths.

2009 Lakanal House fire – in a tower block in Camberwell, South London, caused by a faulty television set, led to six deaths and at least twenty injured; an inquest "found the fire spread unexpectedly fast, both laterally and vertically, trapping people in their homes, with the exterior cladding panels burning through in just four and a half minutes."

2010 Shirley Towers fire – two firefighters died after tower block fire rapidly escalated.

2016 Shepherd's Court fire – in a tower block in Shepherd's Bush, West London, a faulty tumble-dryer caught fire on the seventh floor, 19 August 2016. The fire spread up six floors on the outside of the building, which is owned by Hammersmith and Fulham Council. There were no fatalities but some suffered smoke inhalation.

2019 De Pass Gardens fire – a fire in a six-storey tower block in Barking, East London spread through all six floors.

2019 The Cube fire – a fire in a six-storey student residence in Bolton, re-clad in 2018 with high-pressure laminate. The fire spread "extremely rapidly" through the top three floors of the building.

2021 Poplar/New Providence Wharf fire – a fire that affected three floors of a tower block in New Providence Wharf, Poplar, which also used the same type of cladding tiles, with two people being sent to hospital for smoke inhalation.

2024 Spectrum Building fire – a fire in a tower block in Dagenham with known "fire safety issues" and non-compliant cladding.

Elsewhere

South Korean firefighters in the 2010 Wooshin Golden Suites fire used a helicopter as part of their operations to put out a cladding fire that rose within minutes from the 4th to the 38th floor.

1946 fire at the Winecoff Hotel (Atlanta, Georgia), killed 119 out of 304 residents. It started from ignition of a mattress lying in a corridor and was propagated by painted burlap wall coverings, through wooden doors and openable wooden transoms above the doors and up the single staircase. The upper floors were out of reach of fire ladders. The hotel, which had been advertised as "absolutely fireproof," reopened after 5 years with fire alarms and an automated sprinkler system. US fire safety codes became legally enforceable and applicable to older buildings. Materials had to be tested for flammability. Opening transoms were banned. Flashover was recognised as a means of propagation.

1971 fire at the Daeyeonggak Hotel (Seoul, South Korea), killing 164 and injuring 63.

1974 fire at the Joelma Building (São Paulo, Brazil), killing 175-200 people and injuring 300+. Second deadliest skyscraper fire in world history, surpassed only by the World Trade Center disaster during the 11 September attacks.

2007 fire at The Water Club (Atlantic City, New Jersey, US) – a fire that occurred as the building was nearing completion spread rapidly up aluminium composite panel cladding with a polyethylene core, from the 3rd floor to the top of the 41-floor building.

2007 Deutsche Bank Building fire (World Trade Center Site, New York, US) - Ignited by a discarded cigarette during the demolition of the building after it was damaged and contaminated in the collapse of the World Trade Center, two FDNY firefighters (Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino) killed by smoke inhalation, 115 firefighting units injured.

2009 Beijing Television Cultural Center fire (China) – believed to have spread via insulating foam panels on the building's facade.

2010 Wooshin Golden Suites fire (Marine City, South Korea) – spread within 20 minutes from the 4th floor to the top of the 38-storey building, which featured flammable aluminium composite cladding with a polyethylene core, along with insulation made of glass wool or polystyrene.

2010 Shanghai fire (China) – destroyed a 28-storey high-rise apartment building, killing at least 58 people; flammable polyurethane insulation applied to the outside of the building was reported to have been a possible contributory factor.

2012 Al Tayer Tower fire (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) – the rapid spread of the fire, which started in a first-floor balcony and spread to the top of the 40-storey (34 residential, six parking floors) tower, was attributed to aluminium sandwich panels featuring a thermo-plastic core.

2012 Mermoz Tower fire (Roubaix, France) – saw fire spread rapidly up flammable cladding, resulting in one death and six injured.

2012 Tamweel Tower fire (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) – spread across dozens of floors via flammable aluminium cladding.

2014 Lacrosse Tower fire (Melbourne, Australia) – a fire started on an eighth-floor balcony took just 11 minutes to travel up 13 floors to the building's roof, spreading via the same type of aluminium composite cladding as was used in Grenfell Tower.

2015 fire at The Marina Torch (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) – fire spreading up the cladding of several dozen storeys from the 50th floor to the top of the building. A second fire occurred on 4 August 2017, again spreading rapidly up the exterior of the building.

2015 fire at The Address Downtown Dubai (United Arab Emirates) – cladding fire in a supertall hotel and residential skyscraper.

2016 Ramat Gan high-rise fire (Ramat Gan, Israel) – a small fire in a flat quickly spread to the top of a 13-storey tower block via combustible external insulation panelling.

2016 Neo Soho fire (Jakarta, Indonesia) – the fire occurred while the building was still under construction and spread rapidly up dozens of floors via flammable cladding.

2017 Plasco Building disaster (Tehran, Iran), 21 dead, 250+ injured. The fire caused a complete collapse of the building, damaging numerous nearby structures.

2018 Employees Provident Fund building fire (Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia) – the fire occurred due to sparks from maintenance works on the building ignited the outer cladding of the building. This is the first fire involving cladding in Malaysia. No one was reported hurt. The fund stated that "there has been no compromise to the data integrity or members' savings in any manner".

2018 Edifício Wilton Paes de Almeida (São Paulo, Brazil) was devastated by fire and collapsed. Neighboring buildings also caught fire. The fire caused at least four deaths, with a further 40 people missing as of May 2018.

2019 Neo200 apartment building fire (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) – a fire ignited on the 22nd floor of the apartment building located at 200 Spencer Street, and rapidly spread to the 29th floor. It was the second fire at the building; the first happened on 31 December 2015. The tower was known to have the same type of cladding as the Grenfell Tower and the fire was found by a council inspection to have affected sprinkler systems and alarm systems. It was also reported that extra smoke alarms were installed just two weeks before the fire and that some residents had put plastic covers over their smoke alarms. Other residents refused to leave, complicating the evacuation process.

2021 Torre dei Moro fire (Milan, Italy) – a 20-storey block of flats caught fire on 29 August. "Witnesses have said the fire, which started on the 15th floor, quickly surged through the outside cladding of the building. Video of the blaze showed panels melting off the building in liquefied clumps."

2022 Lotus Garden China Telecom Building fire (Changsha, China) – A fire spread across multiple floors of a high-rise building, no fatalities reported.

2023 Hanoi building fire (Vietnam), fire spread from the basement to the top, caused by a burning electric circuit in the motorbike parking area.

2024 Valencia residential complex fire (Spain), a 14-storey luxury residential complex, clad in similar materials, caught fire and burned rapidly. Fanned by strong winds, the blaze "spread in a matter of 10 minutes", trapping a number of residents and leading to the total destruction of the 135-apartment complex. The fire killed 10 people and injured at least 15 others.

Notes

The floors were originally numbered Ground, Mezzanine, Walkway, Walkway + 1, Floor 1, Floor 2, ..., Floor 20. After the 2015–16 renovation, the floors were numbered Ground, Floor 1, Floor 2, ..., Floor 23. The flat numbers followed a pattern in which the last digit indicated a flat's position on the floor, and the preceding digits indicated the original number of the floor. Thus Flat 16 was in the northeast corner of Floor 1, and Flat 26 was directly above it. The 2015–2016 renovation changed the floor numbers but not the flat numbers. Therefore Flat 16 was now on Floor 4, the former Floor 1.

The inquiry ruled in 2019 that the resident was not to blame.

The most senior officers of the London Fire Brigade take it in turns to be on call at night, to respond to a major incident.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenfell_Tower_fire