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FLEEING THE FIRE
I fled Grenfell disaster with flames licking ceiling above my head… I’m terrified it’ll happen again
Watch Grenfell survivor Emma O'Connor relive the horrific fire
A GRENFELL tragedy survivor has revealed how she escaped the disaster seven years ago today - but now fears it will happen again.
Emma O’ Connor, 35, and her partner Luke escaped from Grenfell Tower's 20th floor during the inferno, which claimed 72 lives in June 2017.
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She now fears cladding at other large structures will lead to another disaster.
Emma, who tragically lost her friend Steve in the London blaze, has now bravely recounted the night of June 14, 2017 to The Sun.
She said: "It was just a normal evening. We had takeout because it was payday."
Emma added that, as sirens wailed in the distance, she and her partner initially dismissed them as a routine alarm.
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But the sight of flames reflecting off a nearby school shattered their assumption, plunging them into a nightmare.
Emma said: “Engines one and two turned up, so I instantly jumped out of bed to see where they were going.
"By this point, we could see that it was a fire on a lower floor.”
Emma, who was struggling with severe arthritis, faced a harrowing journey down from the 20th floor, managing to escape despite being told to “stay put” by firefighters.
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The “one working” lift became their lifeline, ferrying them through smoke-choked corridors and past frantic neighbours desperate to flee.
Emma said: “A woman ran in screaming 'fire'.
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"One of the firefighters told us to go back upstairs, but we didn't listen.
"We then walked right underneath the fire. I don't actually know why we did that, but we did."
Escaping the building, Emma and Luke found a bench, watching in horror at the chaos of falling debris and raging flames.
The fire claimed 72 lives and injured 70 more after a blaze started in the kitchen of flat 16 on the fourth floor of the Kensington tower block.
More than 350 people were thought to be inside when the blaze - which lasted 24 hours - started.
Hundreds were left with nowhere to live after the tragedy.
The fire became the subject of several complex investigations by the authorities, with a public inquiry and coroner's inquests launched, while survivors and activists have consistently campaigned for justice.
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Emma is now haunted by the fear that similar cladding to that used on Grenfell Tower poses a risk to other people.
She said: "When I look at buildings, I can't help but wonder what they’re clad in."
Emma added: "I try not to get terrified because I know that if a fire happened, the consequences would be devastating."
She said that if a fire broke out at, for instance, a large sporting event, "with the right wind, everyone would be completely screwed".
Today, the seventh anniversary of the tragedy, Emma is commemorating the victims in a name reading before an 11am silence.
She said: "I'm reading out nine names on Friday, and I’m quite anxious."
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Emma insists there is still a lot to be done by the government and local authorities.
She said: "I've received no support from the government and local authorities. They haven't really done much.
"There's not been any accountability, there's no justice. Justice would look like getting rid of the 18-metre rule, implementing peeps, and giving better equipment to fire stations."
Following the blaze in 2017, the government introduced new fire safety rules, including new rules for high-rise blocks of flats - but only applying to those that are at least 18 metres or seven storeys high.
And in October 2019, the Grenfell Tower inquiry recommended that the government bring in a legal obligation for building owners and managers to issue personalised emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs).
These would be given to disabled residents or those with reduced mobility living in high-rise buildings.
The Government has not implemented the recommendation.
And as of April this year, London has 278 of England’s 498 high-rise residential or publicly-owned buildings which were found to have ACM cladding, according to Government data.
Grenfell Tower tragedy timeline
Detailed timings set out from the Grenfell Public Inquiry
- 00.54 Behailu Kebede calls 999 to report a fire in Flat 16, floor 4 Grenfell Tower.
- 00.59 First firefighters reach the tower.
- 01.09 Fire breaks out of Flat 16 into exterior cladding and starts to climb the east facade rapidly.
- 01.14 Firefighters enter the kitchen of Flat 16 for the first time.
- 01.26 Met Police declares a Major Incident.
- 01.27 Fire reaches the roof and starts to spread horizontally.
- 01.42 The LAS declares a Significant Incident.
- 02.00 Flames travel across the north and east elevations of the tower, and start to spread around the crown and diagonally across the face of the building, affecting flats in the south-east and north-west corners.
- 02.35 The control room decides to revoke the “stay put” advice and tell all occupants calling 999 to leave the tower.
- 02.50 Fire spreads horizontally across the south elevation at the crown. Commissioner Dany Cotton arrives at Grenfell Tower.
- 03.30 Flames continue to spread across the south and west elevations of the tower.
- 08.07 Elpidio Bonifacio, the last survivor to leave the tower, is evacuated.
Of the capital city's total, 236 - amounting to 85% - have now been ‘remediated’, though some are still awaiting sign-off, the reports.
Emma said her thoughts turned to her neighbours and the dogs left behind after fleeing the building.
She said: "My first thought was, 'Oh, where are the dogs?' Because I could see absolutely no dog, people had to leave their pets to die."
Emma continues to advocate for justice.
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said: “Our thoughts will always be with the people who lost their lives, their loved ones and their homes on 14 June 2017.
"This Council could and should have done more to keep our residents safe before the fire, and to care for them in the aftermath.
“We know how important the long-awaited Grenfell Inquiry report will be for the bereaved, survivors and the community.
"We are committed to learning from the report and recommendations, to ensure that a tragedy like Grenfell can never happen again.
"Whilst the date is set for it to be published in September, we know that this is not the end of the road to justice for those affected.
“We will keep working to rebuild our relationship with our communities as we strive to meet the challenge the bereaved and survivors have set us – to become the best Council for our residents and change the culture of our organisation for good, as a lasting legacy of the tragedy.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Today on the seventh anniversary of the appalling Grenfell Tower Fire we stop and remember the 72 people who lost their lives and those whose lives were changed forever.
"We owe it to every single one of them to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.
“I will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the bereaved, survivors and the local community.
"The road to justice has been far too long but I will continue to do everything I can to help them secure the justice they need and deserve.
"London Fire Brigade has now completed all recommendations from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry – so there are improved policies and procedures in place and better equipment available to fight fires and keep all Londoners safe.
"But there is still a lot more work to do.
“The forthcoming second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry report must deliver important answers and help ensure those responsible are held to account.”
London Fire Commissioner, Andy Roe, said on the seventh anniversary of the fire: “Our thoughts remain with the families and loved ones of the 72 people who lost their lives, as well as the survivors, their families and the Grenfell community.
“Listening to the Grenfell community has been fundamental to our ability to learn from this tragedy, and we will continue to do so.
"This year, LFB completed every recommendation directed specifically to us in the Phase 1 report.
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"We have now introduced important new policies, new equipment, implemented improved training and better ways of working, particularly in how we respond to fires in high-rise buildings.
"But it is clear there is a lot more important work still to do and we will do everything in our power to make changes to improve our service to be the best we can be and to make sure this devastating tragedy is never repeated.”
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