Grenfell Tower Update

[Content Note: Fire; injury; death; displacement. Please note there are images of the building in flames at nearly every news article.]

The Grenfell Tower fire will get a public inquiry, after London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for one and Prime Minister Theresa May ordered one today.

May said she had heard "heartbreaking stories of the people who were caught up in this terribly, terrible tragedy" and that the victims and their families deserved a full investigation. Seventeen people have been confirmed dead but that number is expected to rise.

"Right now people want answers, and it's absolutely right, and that's why I am today ordering a full public inquiry into this disaster. We need to know what happened; we need to have an explanation of this, we owe that to the families. To the people who have lost loved ones, friends, and the homes in which they lived."

...She added that meetings with staff from the emergency services who had tackled the blaze and described how the flames engulfed Grenfell Tower had convinced her of the need for further investigation. "It was rapid, it was ferocious and it was unexpected," she said.

May also promised that the government would work quickly to find homes for the people displaced by the fire.

I'm glad that survivors will be getting an investigation to (ostensibly) provide answers on what happened, and that they will have a place to live, but that's the bare fucking minimum they're owed at this point.

People are angry, and understandably so:

There is a growing sense of anger and frustration among the crowds gathered under the Westway flyover where volunteers are sorting and boxing donations.

Volunteer Sinead O'Hare said the fire and loss of life had tapped into a deeper sense of resentment and alienation.

"People are angry about years of Tory policy of cutting corners and costs, and refusing to take responsibility. The interests of the Tory party are closely allied to the interests of business and private landlords," she said.

People from other parts of London who are homeless and hungry had started turning up in the area hoping for food and other necessities, she said.

The media is one target for resentment. "You press people didn't come here when people were blogging about the danger, you only come when people are dead," says Calvin Benson, who was carrying a handmade sign saying "I am not a photo opportunity."

"You pick and choose your stories. The blogs have been active for years but no one was interested."

Several photographers and camera operators have been pushed, jabbed, and shouted at as anger and tension have overtaken initial shock at the fire.

Many of the residents urgently pleaded for help for years, and were ignored by their government and the media. Now parts of their government are behaving as if they're doing them a favor by supporting an inquiry, and most of the media is treating them like a tragedy porn spectacle for clicks. Yeah, it's not hard to see why "anger and tension have overtaken initial shock."

I take up space in solidarity with the survivors of this incredible failure and devastating fire.