英ロンドン高層住宅火災、消防の対応適切なら「死者減らせた」　報告書

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】2017年6月に英ロンドン西部の高層住宅「グレンフェル・タワー」で発生した大規模火災について、英報道各社は29日、消防当局の対応が適切であったならば犠牲者の数は減らせたとする公式報告書の内容を伝えた。（写真は大規模火災により71人が死亡した英ロンドン西部の高層住宅「グレンフェル・タワー」）
　同火災では７１人が死亡。複数のメディアが報じた３０日発表予定の公式報告書によると、大規模火災に対するロンドン市消防局の対策は「全くもって不十分」であり、同局の対応には組織的怠慢の影響もみられたという。
　また、同報告書はダニー・コットン消防局長について「並外れた無神経さ」だったと批判。グレンフェル・タワー火災についてコットン氏は事故後の調査に対し、消防当局の対応の正当性を主張していた。
　英通信社プレス・アソシエーションによると、元高裁判事で調査委員会の委員長を務めたマーティン・ムーアビック氏は報告書で、「ロンドン市消防局の対応には、指揮の面でも現場対応の面でも重大な欠陥が認められた」と指摘。
　さらにムーアビック氏は、「これらの欠陥が大部分は組織的な理由によるものと認めることは適切だ」と結論付けた。
　ムーアビック氏はまた、ロンドン市消防局による住民への火災の際の待機勧告について、もっと早く撤回すべきだったと断定。「犠牲者の数は少なくなっていた可能性がある」と指摘した。
　ロンドン市消防局は当時、グレンフェル・タワーの住人に火災発生時には避難せずに屋内にとどまるよう勧告しており、撤回されたのは出火から２時間後だった。事故後、この対応には直ちに非難の声が集まった。
　ただ、市消防局は「明白で安全な代替策はなかった」とし、当時の対応を擁護している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/11/01-09:11）

The emergency response to a 2017 high-rise fire that killed 71 people in London had serious shortcomings, British media said on Tuesday, quoting an official report into the tragedy.
The long-awaited assessment into the Grenfell Tower fire is due to be published on Wednesday and indicated fewer people would have died had London Fire Brigade been better prepared.
The June 14, 2017 inferno at the 24-storey residential block in west London was Britain's deadliest domestic fire since World War II and prompted widespread outrage.
Several media organisations said the report says the fire service's readiness for such a blaze was gravely inadequate and that its response suffered from systemic failures.
It also accused LFB commissioner Dany Cotton of remarkable insensitivity after she told the inquiry she would not have done anything differently on the night.
I identify a number of serious shortcomings in the response of the LFB, both in the operation of the control room and on the incident ground, wrote inquiry head Martin Moore-Bick.
It is right to recognise that those shortcomings were for the most part systemic in nature, he stated, according to the domestic Press Association news agency.
A public inquiry into the fire began in May 2018, led by retired High Court judge Moore-Bick, and is expected to take evidence in two phases.
- 'Compelling evidence' -
Findings from the first stage focused on assessing what happened on the night of the fire is summarised in the 1,000-page document, and includes a number of recommendations.
It reportedly confirms the blaze started through a faulty fridge in the kitchen of a fourth-floor flat and quickly engulfed the building due to flammable cladding installed on its facade as part of a refurbishment.
The report states the combustible aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding with polyethylene cores acted as a source of fuel and was the principal reason the flames spread at such speed.
Moore-Bick is said to have noted that he intended to determine whether the building complied with regulations in the later stage of the probe but there was already compelling evidence the external walls did not.
Meanwhile, he ruled the LFB's stay-put strategy should have been lifted earlier, which was likely to have resulted in fewer fatalities.
The fire service came under almost immediate scrutiny over its advice at the time for residents to remain in their flats, which was only lifted two hours after the blaze began.
The best part of an hour was lost, the retired judge concluded.
The LFB has defended its actions, saying there had been no obvious and safe alternative strategy.
Although Moore-Bick praised the bravery of individual firefighters, he said the brigade was not well prepared for such an event.
The LFB's preparation and planning for a fire such as that at Grenfell Tower was gravely inadequate, he wrote.