Health toll on Grenfell firefighters revealed

More than a quarter of firefighters who were exposed to toxic smoke during the Grenfell Tower fire have suffered long-term health disorders, a study shows.

- Rajeev Syal

Ministers are facing demands for an urgent review after data from 524 firefighters who risked their lives at the 2017 disaster showed that over the first three years, 136 had reported life-changing conditions. These included 11 cases of cancer, 64 respiratory diseases, 22 neurological disorders and 66 digestive illnesses.

Prof Anna Stec, a world-leading expert in toxicity who co-authored the report, found that most of the firefighters disclosing health disorders had not worn respiratory protection at all times because of urgency at the disaster, which killed 72 people.

Firefighters who were exposed to smoke during the fire were more than three times as likely to have suffered digestive and respiratory diseases up to 2020 as those who were not exposed, the report found.

Due to be published today, the report said that establishing a Grenfell firefighters' health-screening programme similar to one established for those who served in New York after 9/11 could cut the number of premature deaths.A programme of "rapid and comprehensive health screening, followed by prioritised treatment, similar to that used for the WTC [World Trade Center] firefighters would be very likely to reduce the incidence of premature deaths among these firefighters", the report said.

Matt Wrack, the Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said the study was "powerful evidence that firefighters were exposed to extreme levels of toxic smoke at the tower, many without any respiratory protection. We must learn from the aftermath of 9/11, which made it clear that enhanced health testing is vital to protecting the lives of firefighters and residents." The blaze at the 24-storey tower block in west London on 14 June 2017 was the worst in a UK residential building since the second world war.