'What happened at Grenfell is a warning for the world'

As the inquiry prepares to publish its final report into the 2017 tower block fire that killed 72 people, Nadine White speaks to survivors and relatives still searching for justice

- Nadine White

It was payday Emma Louise O'Connor and her partner Luke had treated themselves to a pizza and gone to bed in their 20thfloor flat, only to be woken by a fire alarm in the early hours. The date was 14 June 2017 and, 16 floors below Emma's home at Grenfell, a fridge-freezer in flat 16 was ablaze.

At 1.21am – less than 40 minutes after the fire began – Emma, who has mobility issues, and her partner managed to leave the building, taking a smoke-filled lift down to the ground floor. They had escaped just before the blaze took hold across the tower block, engulfing the flammable cladding, in a tragedy that killed 72 people.

“I went into shock,” says Emma. “I remember being dragged away from the scene by my partner who took me to my mum’s nearby. Looking at the building burning, I couldn’t actually believe what I was watching.”

The memories of that night are still clear in the 35-year-old’s mind but, for her and other survivors – as well as the wider community in west London – the search for answers and accountability goes on.

On Wednesday, the Grenfell inquiry will return its final report, focused on how the tower block came to be in the condition that allowed the deadly fire to take hold and spread. The phase one report, published in October 2019, focused on the events of that night and the response, but campaigners criticised the failure to take action on the back of its recommendations.

“Justice looks different to many people but, for me, justice has definitely not been served,” says Emma, who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt.

“I want to see them get rid of the cladding on buildings everywhere. I also want to see the government sort of shape up now and start giving funding back to our fire brigade, which has been stripped of funding over the years.”

‘It’s a double whammy’