London Tower Block Inferno

[Paddy]

In the cold light of day:

The country doesn't really have any stocks of materiel in place any more for disasters such as this. We used to, for example the Red Cross used to store huge amounts of clothing, blankets, storable food, medical supplies etc. But over time, this stuff gets past it's sell by date, the storgae costs huge amounts of money to maintain, there has to be logistical checking done etc. We haven't in truth really needed it since WW2 I'd argue, so it's not done any more.

In fact the last one I'm aare of was pn the IoW. When I built the Sainsbury's there we had to move the local Red Cross. All of their stock of emergency supplies went in a skip, times have changed.

So when it does happen, we the people, the country, the council, the Government are dealing with something that's not happened possibly in living memory. Any emergency plans we might have had are out of date. They won't have been updated for years, not enough funding...

Logistically, we don't have "Disaster recovery stocks" in hidden warehouses that can be rolled out immediately. I don't think so anyway. Please prove me wrong?

So: Not 4 days on why, really, are people attcking the Government, the council for not reacting quickly enough? The media. They are not doing us any favours. I'm sat watching TV now, and all the papers are after May's blood. Sorry, please focus on what is needed here, politics isn't what the game is right now. It's compassion, help, practicalities.

You all know I have deep reservations about May. But FFS PLEASE give her a chance to get her act together. Logistically a lot of kit has been sent there. There's no place to store it. There's no way of knowing who needs it because the lists of people needing help aren't out there yet. It takes time. 4 days isn't a massive time frame. The access to bank accounts is hopeless, most of them lost everything, how can they be identified? How do they know the people turning up for help are actually from Grenfell? Do they hand out to anyone who turns up?

Why are they concentrating on the cladding? We know it was the wrong choice. Stop the harranguing and sort out the problem directly in front of us. One step at a time. Pull together for the immediate issue.

And May thinks that the UK can win a nuclear war when in reality the UK cannot deal with a fire in a block o flats

[Lost It]

@Lost It the reason the authorities are being slated is because people donated but no one official was there to help organise sorting the donations out, to synchronise the volunteers and to direct people to temporary accommodation. In this country we have volunteers who do things like search and rescue, and life boat rescue. However there is always one paid person who manages it.

I'm ex RNLI, I know about this, but I have to correct you, no-one at the station is "paid" as a job to look after it, only the guy who maintains the kit gets an allowance. The crews get an "hourly rate" when there's a shout, at our station it went into a hardship fund to help people out. Or to pay for special requirements. First Aid training, kit that we need for specific tasks, we also used to buy ourselves T shirts and Polo shirts with the station logo on. That's about it.

You don't volunteer to go out in a rubber boat in a Force 6 rain storm at 0 dark 30 for the money...

Which is why I also suspect that the Disaster Response systems aren't there any more. Yes there should be a paid person looking after it, but if they haven't "load tested" the system, for all we know the first time they tried to implement the system it may have failed at the first hurdle.

I mean, this person could have been on holiday. Or ill. Or it's simply overwhelmed them. We don't know. But I do know things such as this take time to organise. It's not hung up in a wardrobe waiting for someone to simply add water and off it goes.

The Public Enquiry will sort the nitty gritty, first the focus needs to be what next. Not what happen in a years time. That's all I'm saying.

[original PM]

It's OK though let's have some riots about it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...-descend-riots
/

[scooterscot]

You all know I have deep reservations about May. But FFS PLEASE give her a chance to get her act together. Logistically a lot of kit has been sent there. There's no place to store it. There's no way of knowing who needs it because the lists of people needing help aren't out there yet. It takes time. 4 days isn't a massive time frame.

If the government was a private company May probably would have been fired already. May has had a year in no. 10, she hates the job, you can see it. Supposedly we're one of the richest countries in the world. 4 days is ample time.

Meanwhile in Japan after an earthquake - guess they must keep tarmac stockpiles eh?

[SueEllen]

I'm ex RNLI, I know about this, but I have to correct you, no-one at the station is "paid" as a job to look after it, only the guy who maintains the kit gets an allowance. The crews get an "hourly rate" when there's a shout, at our station it went into a hardship fund to help people out. Or to pay for special requirements. First Aid training, kit that we need for specific tasks, we also used to buy ourselves T shirts and Polo shirts with the station logo on. That's about it.

You don't volunteer to go out in a rubber boat in a Force 6 rain storm at 0 dark 30 for the money...

Which is why I also suspect that the Disaster Response systems aren't there any more. Yes there should be a paid person looking after it, but if they haven't "load tested" the system, for all we know the first time they tried to implement the system it may have failed at the first hurdle.

I mean, this person could have been on holiday. Or ill. Or it's simply overwhelmed them. We don't know. But I do know things such as this take time to organise. It's not hung up in a wardrobe waiting for someone to simply add water and off it goes.

The Public Enquiry will sort the nitty gritty, first the focus needs to be what next. Not what happen in a years time. That's all I'm saying.

You think May and Kensington and Chelsea council reactions were Ok?

Even if they had no members of staff with organisation skills as an elected politician your job is to reassure people and make people feel like they have been heard.

All May had to do was a Khan, a Korbyn or a Leadsom and press the flesh of the local people. Yes she may have had things thrown at her and been shouted at like Khan and Leadsom but that's the downsides of your job.

[original PM]

You think May and Kensington and Chelsea council reactions were Ok?

Even if they had no members of staff with organisation skills as an elected politician your job is to reassure people and make people feel like they have been heard.

All May had to do was a Khan, a Korbyn or a Leadsom and press the flesh of the local people. Yes she may have had things thrown at her and been shouted at like Khan and Leadsom but that's the downsides of your job.

Or maybe she should not have tried to use dead people to further her political goals.

[xoggoth]

And May thinks that the UK can win a nuclear war when in reality the UK cannot deal with a fire in a block o flats

The SAS could sneak in and cover Russian submarines in inflammable cladding. Simples.

[Lost It]

You think May and Kensington and Chelsea council reactions were Ok?

Even if they had no members of staff with organisation skills as an elected politician your job is to reassure people and make people feel like they have been heard.

All May had to do was a Khan, a Korbyn or a Leadsom and press the flesh of the local people. Yes she may have had things thrown at her and been shouted at like Khan and Leadsom but that's the downsides of your job.

No. I was playing Devils advocate. absolutely there should have been "official" response. But that's what you get when you pare government funding to the bone for not real reason.

[Lost It]

If the government was a private company May probably would have been fired already. May has had a year in no. 10, she hates the job, you can see it. Supposedly we're one of the richest countries in the world. 4 days is ample time.

Meanwhile in Japan after an earthquake - guess they must keep tarmac stockpiles eh?

Well yes. That infrastructure is in place already. Who do you think repairs the Motorways after a deisel spill, or a vehicle fire? That's the point. It's expected to happen. Tower Blocks catching fire, not so much...

[BrilloPad]

Yes she may have had things thrown at her and been shouted at like Khan and Leadsom but that's the downsides of your job.

These days PM and Royal family are expected to be wrapped in cotton wool. I remember when TB left office he was cheesed off at stopping at traffic lights.

They need a reality check.

On Saturday BJ was in the same pub(Chipstead arms) as my 15 year old daughter who had just passed DoE. He was happy to pose for a picture with her. I asked her if he was talking about overthrowing the PM and she she was "was discussing stuff".

Now I used to think BJ is a complete moron after Brexit. He campaigned for Brexit however clearly did not want it. However I will forgive him everything for being nice to my daughter.