Red Medicine Grenfell Tower is Still Burning w/ Peter Apps and Anna Stec
Feb 11, 2025
Anna Stec, fire chemistry professor and Grenfell Inquiry expert witness, explains toxic effluents and lingering health risks. Peter Apps, housing journalist and author on Grenfell, traces the political history of deregulation, testing failures and how combustible modern materials spread fires. They discuss why dangers persist and what survivors and communities still need.
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How Deregulation Made Cheaper Combustible Materials Mainstream
- Outcome‑based deregulation shifted building rules from prescriptive to “tell us the outcome” and let industry choose materials and methods.
- That created an economic incentive to pick the cheapest solutions, undermining safety standards and enabling combustible modern materials.
Lackanell Fire Foreshadowed Grenfell
- Lackanell House 2009 fire killed six and showed the same failures (stay‑put reliance, escape routes undermined) that later produced Grenfell.
- Peter Apps used that earlier tragedy to argue Grenfell was predictable, not a one‑off disaster.
Outdated Guidance Let Dangerous Composite Panels Pass Tests
- Approved Document B guidance remained non‑mandatory and outdated, relying on surface reaction tests unsuitable for modern composite products.
- Testing protocols assumed homogeneous materials, missing hazards of layered plastics and foams used in cladding systems.
