Dozens of residents of Grenfell Tower suffered electricity power surges so strong their appliances malfunctioned, overheated and emitted smoke a few years before the fire, it has emerged.
Documents seen by the BBC reveal how 25 residents claimed compensation from the council following the surges in 2013.
Some say electricity problems persisted into the months before June’s fire.
Police say the blaze, in which at least 80 are thought to have died, started in a fridge freezer on the fourth floor.
One fire expert told the BBC the electricity spikes could have been an issue which led to the fire starting in the first place.
Neither the council nor the tenant management organisation which looks after the tower have commented.
Just shows how bad BBC journalism is and its failure to research stories properly….this ‘news’ has been on the GAG’s website for years…..the BBC clearly has not read through the site…if it had it would know that the GAG is a hardcore, left-wing group of activists and not an official residents’ body…….hence possibly why the council were reluctant to deal with it and its often sensationalist and highly politicised statements…..
NO JUSTICE FOR GRENFELL TOWER POWER SURGE VICTIMS
Grenfell Tower residents were today informed that the Council’s and TMO’s insurers ‘Zurich’ will not be compensating them for damage to electricl appliances suffered by many in the recent power surge debacle. ‘Zurich’ found that the TMO had not been negligent in regard to this incident. They therefore declined to provide compensation in response to residents insurance claims.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that our landlords would subject residents to the frightening experience of having electrical appliances blow up and catch fire in their homes – to then refuse to compensate the victims for their losses is just beyond the pale.
GRENFELL TOWER – FROM BAD TO WORSE
An end may finally be in sight to the mysterious and distressing power surges that have bedevilled Grenfell Tower residents throughout the past month. However, decisive action was only taken yesterday after highly distressed residents descended en masse on the estate office to demand action. They had woken to find smoke issuing from various electrical appliances in their homes, including the light fixtures, and descended in panic to the estate office to demand help and assistance. Emergency electricians who attended later in the day were finally, it seems, able to identify the source of the problem. An emergency temporary electrical by-pass supply has been provided and the necessary follow–up works will be carried out in the near future.
It is very clear at this stage that the electrical supply to Grenfell Tower has been in a very dangerous condition for several weeks. It is equally clear that the authorities had been repeatedly warned of this but had failed to react with sufficient urgency and had failed to take adequate remedial measures.
As evidence of this we present the extract below from an email sent on 13th May by Shah Ahmed, Chair of the Grenfell Tower Leaseholders Association, to Robert Black at TMO and various RBKC councillors and TMO officers:
“Continuous Power Surges in Grenfell Tower
There have been two weeks of power surges in the building, most notably in the early hours of the morning and throughout the evening and night time. Electronic apparatus are seriously affected by these surges. Computers are turned on and off, lights continually flicker becoming very dim and extremely bright in the space of a few seconds.
On 11th May 2013 at 9:05pm we had numerous power surges in the space of a minute, and in that process my computer and monitor literally exploded with smoke seeping out from the back and the smell of burnt electronics filled our entire computer. My monitor also fused at the same time. When I called the TMO out of hours service the standard textbook response was given to us that I was the first one to report such a problem and I was made to feel like a fool reporting such an issue, which resulted in years of data being lost forever.
Please note if the power surges continue at Grenfell Tower, it would be very dangerous and costly because it is interfering with electric and electronic items in the household, including the telephone line, television, fridge, washing machine, computer etc”.