The full extent of failings behind the Grenfell Tower inferno was laid bare yesterday as police revealed that a fire started by a faulty fridge-freezer ignited cladding and insulation that has not passed safety tests.
Scotland Yard issued an alert over materials used on the west London tower after samples caught light easily during new independent checks.
Officials were so concerned at the findings that the information was immediately shared with the government. It has alerted councils. The tests on insulation samples taken from the tower were carried out by experts employed by Scotland Yard, which is carrying out a criminal investigation into how the fire started and why it took hold so easily.
Police yesterday also said they will consider manslaughter charges as part of their investigation. Officers have started seizing relevant documents from various organisations.
The Met said officials had established that the blaze started in a Hotpoint fridge-freezer. A fridge fire is believed to have broken out on the fourth floor of the North Kensington block last week. At least 79 people are feared to have died.
Police said the fridge-freezer, FF175BP, had not previously been linked to any fires or subject to any recall.
Detective superintendent Fiona McCormack, who is overseeing the investigation, said early tests had been carried out on the cladding and insulation installed on Grenfell Tower during a recent £10mn refit. She said: “What we are being told is that the cladding and the insulation failed all safety tests.
“The insulation was more flammable than the cladding. Tests show the insulation samples combusted soon after the test started. We have immediately shared the data with the department for communities and local government. (It is) sharing the information with local councils.”
McCormack said the investigation “will seek to establish how the fire started and how quickly it took hold — the speed was unexpected. We will also seek to understand what happened to each and every person who died in the fire.”
Previously, police said they would examine everything from the cause of the fire to the management of the building, recent refurbishments and fire safety measures and whether panels were fitted unlawfully.
Celotex, an Ipswich-based company, has said it made the insulation which fitted between the cladding and the concrete wall of the tower. The firm said the product had Class 0 rating, which prevented flames from spreading and limited the amount of heat released.
Police said the number of people who had died or were missing and presumed dead remained at 79, a figure which has not changed since Monday. However, McCormack said the figure could still change and urged anyone who might have been in the tower and had not yet contacted the authorities to come forward.
She said neither the Home Office nor her inquiry were interested in the immigration status of anyone living there.
“Our priority is to identify all those who died — we do not want there to be any hidden victims,” she added.
A total of 250 officers led by an experienced homicide detective are working on the inquiry. Prosecutors are advising on possible corporate manslaughter charges.
McCormack said officers had begun seizing documents from organisations involved but that nobody had been questioned because it is “way too early”. She said charges of manslaughter and other criminal breaches, including potential breaches of regulations, would be considered.
So far, police have seized hundreds of hours of CCTV, listened to 600 999 calls and started taking statements from survivors. Officers are continuing a “painstaking search” of the tower.