Kensington Society’s president, Nick Ross, has been campaigning for better fire safety for many years. On Thursday, 22 June, he wrote a poignant email to a journalist about some misconceptions about Kensington, and about the years of disinterest for better fire regulations displayed by national politicians from both the main parties.
We are all shocked by the horrific fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower in northern Kensington in the early hours of Wednesday 14 June. Shocked not just by the enormous death toll and human suffering, but just as much by the inability of both our council and the government to provide help during the first couple of days to all those who had been made homeless. While the fire services, the police and the ambulances were the heroes we expect them to be, the relief work was left to the local community groups.