Grenfell Inquiry day 63: flammable core of cladding was left exposed

He said: “Once they had fitted the cladding, the gaps in the cladding were obvious. From the inside of the flat it was possible to put your hand out of the window, to reach into the cladding and touch the foam inside the metal outer – the edges weren’t sealed.”

In her expert report to the inquiry, Dr Barbara Lane found that the flammable core of the cladding was the main cause of the fire spreading up the side of the building. Mr Smith was likely referring to the Celotex polyisocyanurate foam insulation, which was also combustible and identified as a major cause of the fire’s spread.

Mr Smith also discussed the installation of the heating system in his evidence to the inquiry.

He said that during the refurbishment of the tower that finished in 2016, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation agreed not to install a boiler by the entrance to the flat after he complained repeatedly.

The refurbishment, which was led by contractor Rydon, involved the installation of new boilers in every flat in the tower. Most of these were installed by the front doors of the flats.

Inside Housing has previously reported that in order to install the new heating system, contractors removed safeguards known as fire stopping in the floors of every flat and planned to replace them.

According to Mr Smith, Claire Williams from the management organisation asked him not to tell any other residents that the boiler’s location had been changed. Mr Smith, however, did tell his neighbours as he was concerned that “siting a boiler in the hall was a safety risk”.

He also revealed that when Rydon installed a new fire door, its self-closing mechanism broke “shortly” after it was installed.

Mr Smith added that the council had threatened to evict him after he tried to prevent workers from Rydon from working on his windows, as he was concerned about “the poor standard of their workmanship”.

Another survivor, Sawsan Choucair, also submitted her witness statement to the inquiry, in which she revealed that her mother, her sister, her sister’s husband and their three children all died in the fire.

Her brother, Nabil Choucair, did not live in the tower but said he had spent the night there with his sister Nadia – who died in the fire – on 12 June.

Mr Choucair said that he was supposed to have gone back on 14 June “but this was never to be”.

It was at 2.40am, he said, when Sawsan rang him to tell him there was a fire. He turned the TV on and saw the blaze. After failing to get through to his sister on the phone, he rushed to Grenfell Tower with his brother, Hisam.

He recalls: “Our plan was to go in and rescue them. I think this would have been around 3.15am – 3.40am. It was total chaos and pandemonium. The fire brigade were everywhere and kept coming in, everything was cordoned off and the police were shouting at everyone.

“When I tried to get round them they threatened me with arrest. We just wanted to get in and save them. At the time, it felt that we got so close but in hindsight we must have been about 100 metres away. Nevertheless, you could see the fire and you could feel the heat.”