What happened in the Grenfell Tower fire – a timeline of the tragedy
Today, the years-long Grenfell Inquiry releases its final report into the fire that cost 72 lives.
What started as a small kitchen fire in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, which contained 129 flats and stands at just over 200ft, ended up being the deadliest domestic blaze since the Second World War.
The report into phase one, published in October 2019, concluded the North Kensington property’s cladding did not comply with building regulations and was the “principal” reason for the rapid and “profoundly shocking” spread of the blaze.
It also heavily criticised the London Fire Brigade (LFB) for “serious shortcomings” and “systemic” failures in its handling of the fire, specifically due to its controversial “stay put” strategy which meant residents were told to stay in their flats by firefighters and 999 operators for nearly two hours after the fire broke out.
The tower now holds a tribute to the victims. Pic: PA
The report published today relates to phase two, which looked into the critical circumstances and decisions leading up to the disaster – and it will name and shame those deemed responsible for devastation.
This is a minute-by-minute breakdown of exactly how the tragedy happened in the early hours of 14 June 2017, based on the statements of emergency workers and survivors.
12.54am: Behailu Kebede, 45 at the time, lives on the fourth floor in flat 16. He is asleep when his smoke alarm goes off and wakes to find white smoke billowing from behind his fridge-freezer. He dials 999 to report the fire.
12.59am: The first firefighters arrive on the scene. They are led by LFB watch manager Michael Dowden, a firefighter of around 13 years, who sees an “orange glow” coming from the window of flat 16.
1.06am: Mr Dowden notes the fire has “breached the window of flat 16”. He later tells the inquiry this isn’t uncommon in high-rise fires and therefore isn’t too concerned.
1.09am: The fire in flat 16 breaks out into the exterior cladding of the building and starts to climb the east facade rapidly.
1.14am: Firefighters enter the kitchen of flat 16 for the first time.
1.16am: Mr Dowden becomes “uncomfortable” about the way the fire is burning, later saying he couldn’t understand why it wasn’t being suppressed as a breathing apparatus team was inside.
1.19am: Mr Dowden notices the cladding is alight. He would later tell the inquiry he felt “out of my comfort zone” and “helpless” as the fire took hold.
Watch manager Michael Dowden was emotional at points when speaking to the inquiry in 2018
1.21am: Dr Naomi-Yuan Li, who is in flat 195 on the 22nd floor with her cousin, Lydia, calls 999 after smelling something “like burning plastic” while lying in bed using her phone.
1.25am: 56-year-old Dennis Murphy, who died during the fire, makes the first 999 to report smoke coming into a flat. He is in number 111, on the 14th floor.
His son Peter told the inquiry he also called his family to tell them he was trapped and struggling to breathe.
1.26am: Met Police declares a major incident. Residents are still being told to stay in their flats.
The “stay put” strategy is standard guidance for high-rise blocks and assumes that a fire will be contained in one room or floor, allowing firefighters to tackle flames while residents remain in their homes.
1.27am: The fire reaches the roof and starts to spread horizontally. Fire chiefs believe only the cladding from the outside is burning but that it is still controllable internally.
1.29am: Mr Dowden increases the number of pumps being used to 20 – having escalated from four, to six, to eight, to 10 and to 15 between 1.13am and 1.28am. He says he is becoming “increasingly concerned”.
The amount of pumps is used by firefighters to measure the severity of a fire.
1.30am: Miriem Elgwahry, 27, is the first person to call 999 reporting that the fire is penetrating a flat. She was with her mum Eslah Elgwahry in flat 196 on the 22nd floor.
Miriem’s brother Ahmed Elgwahry said he was on the phone to them later that night and they were telling him they couldn’t breathe. Miriem and Eslah died later that night.
1.31am: After firefighter David Baddilo tells Mr Dowden they need more resources, the watch manager increases the pumps to 25.
By this time 110 out of 297 occupants have escaped, as the fire starts to spread to the north elevation of the tower.
1.42am: The London Ambulance Service declares a “significant incident”.
A report by fire protection expert Dr Barbara Lane states residents should have been told to evacuate by around this time at the latest, but the “stay put” policy remains in place.
1.45am: The first police helicopter arrives at the scene.
1.50am: Mr Dowden hands over incident command to station manager Andrew Walton, who had been listening to the incident on the radio while on a standby shift. By this time 168 of 297 occupants have escaped, though firefighters don’t know the numbers at this stage.
1.58am: Mr Walton is still trying to inform firefighters that he is in charge of the incident when he sees DAC Andrew O’Loughlin, who is two ranks above him, “making big steps” towards him.
Mr O’Loughlin, who has been a firefighter since 1989, had heard 25 pumps mentioned on his radio and knew it was an “exceptional” situation, and that “something very serious was going on”. He is surprised there aren’t more high-ranking officers at the scene already.
He asks Mr Dowden how many people were still in the building, but he doesn’t have a number. He says many people have already come out from the lower floors, and Mr O’Loughlin estimates there are between 100-200 people still in there.
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“We didn’t know the condition, age, ambulatory or health issues of any of these people and so I knew that getting them down a smoke logged staircase was going to be a challenge,” he would later say, explaining why he felt the “stay put” advice would be best for some of the people in the building.
2am: Flames travel across the north and east elevations of the tower, and start to spread around the top of the building and diagonally across the face of the building, affecting flats in the southeast and northwest corners.
2.04am: Group manager Richard Welch declares himself incident commander and increases the number of pumps to 40, not knowing that Mr O’Loughlin has already assumed command.
2.06am: Mr Welch declares a major incident on behalf of the LFB.
2.11am: Mr Welch realises Mr O’Loughlin is on site, apologises for taking control and fills him in on what he has done. Mr O’Loughlin thanks him and says he is happy with the actions he took.
2.15am: Senior operations manager Joanne Smith, who has 23 years’ experience, arrives at LFB’s control room and receives a briefing.
2.20am: Flames start to spread to south elevation. Between now and 2.50am, the control room receives 35 emergency calls from or on behalf of trapped Grenfell residents.
One was from Marcio Gomes in flat 183 on floor 21, who was trapped with his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and his two daughters. Mr Gomes, his wife and daughters survived the blaze, but his son Logan was stillborn in hospital as a result of the smoke.
Mr Gomes speaking at the inquiry in 2018
2.23am: A Met Police operator calls LFB’s control room to tell them a caller is trapped on the 23rd floor and their phone has cut out.
One of the LFB’s control room officers responds: “I think they’re trapped everywhere.”
2.26am: The London Ambulance Service (LAS) declares a major incident.
2.35am – ‘stay put’ advice is revoked
Ms Smith has been listening in to two long-running emergency calls, one of which is with the El-Wahabi family in flat 182 on floor 21.
The El-Wahabi family consisted of Abdul Aziz, 52, and his wife Fouzia, 42, and their three children – 21-year-old Yasin, 16-year-old Nur Huda and eight-year-old Mehdi. They all died on the 21st floor.
Mehdi El-Wahabi (centre), his father Abdulaziz (top left), mother Faouzia (bottom right), brother Yasin, 20 (top right), and sister Nur Huda, 15 (bottom left)
Ms Smith says listening to these calls is making it clear the situation is getting worse in terms of smoke and heat, and she becomes “increasingly uncomfortable with the ‘stay put’ policy”.
The LFB control room decides to revoke the “stay put” advice and tells all occupants calling 999 to leave the tower at all costs and that it is a matter of life and death.
Mr O’Loughlin, still in charge of the scene at Grenfell, later tells the inquiry he wasn’t informed of this change for some time and that he was “confused” by it once he was.
2.44am: LFB assistant commissioner (AC) Andy Roe takes over incident command from Mr O’Loughlin. He later tells the inquiry Mr O’Loughlin had not revoked the “stay put” advice at that time.
Mr Roe, who joined the LFB as a firefighter in 2002 and had been made AC in January 2017, says he knew as soon as he arrived on the scene that there had been a “complete building system failure” to contain the blaze.
He could see the whole tower from the third floor upwards was alight.
2.47am: Mr Roe officially revokes the “stay put” advice.
He says in his testimony he doesn’t recall being told that the control room had already stopped giving the “stay put” advice, and that he made the decision solely because he could see the fire had spread in all directions, resulting in a total failure of compartmentation – a safety feature designed to keep a fire in the region of origin.
Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick later said more lives could have been saved had a “stay put” policy been abandoned sooner – but Mr Roe was individually praised for making the call.
2.50am: The fire spreads horizontally across the south elevation at the top of the building.
3am: The fire starts to spread across the west elevation of the tower, from north to south.
3.20am: Mr Roe chairs the first Tactical Co-ordination Group (TCG) meeting, attended by representatives of the Met Police, the LAS and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
At this stage, 100 people are believed to be trapped in the tower and it is understood three people have died.
4.02am: Fires on the south and west elevations start to converge at the top of the southern corner of the west face. Rescue efforts across the building continue for hours.
8.07am: Elpidio Bonifacio, a partially sighted retiree, becomes the last survivor to leave the tower when two firefighters rescue him from his flat on the 11th floor.
Mr Bonifacio, whose wife of 42 years was at work, later tells the inquiry he had “lost all hope” and was “ready to die” before the firefighters came and supported him down the staircase.
The aftermath
It wasn’t until November 2017 that the identities of all 72 deaths were confirmed by authorities. Among them were 53 adults, 18 children and a stillborn baby who died on the day of the blaze. One of the people who lost their lives was 10-weeks pregnant.
The first report from the Grenfell Inquiry found the LFB’s preparation for a tower block blaze such as Grenfell was “gravely inadequate” and its lack of an evacuation plan was a “major omission”.
Inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick did, however, praise the “extraordinary courage and selfless devotion to duty” of firefighters and said “those in the control room and those deployed on the incident ground responded with great courage and dedication in the most harrowing of circumstances”.
Sky News will have full coverage of the Grenfell report when it is published at 11am – watch a special programme on the disaster on Sky News at 8pm
Prince Andrew should give evidence to US authorities, a government minister has said, as anger grows after it emerged he had been paying “peppercorn rent” for two decades.
On Friday, Prince Andrew announced he was giving up his royal titles, including the Duke of York, after new, damaging reports about his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Passages from the memoir released on Tuesday of the late Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her, provide further details of their alleged encounters.
Prince Andrew has always strenuously denied the allegations.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday he would “support” Prince Andrew giving evidence to US prosecutors.
He added he would also support any decision by the Met Police to investigate allegations that Prince Andrew used a Met bodyguard to gain information on Giuffre.
It comes as anger continues to grow over Prince Andrew’s housing arrangements.
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‘Victims should be in driver’s seat’
‘Peppercorn rent’
The royal has only paid “peppercorn rent” for more than two decades at his Windsor mansion, according to a National Audit Office report published in 2005.
“Peppercorn rent” is a legal term used in leases to show that rent technically exists, so the lease is valid, but it’s nominal, often literally £1 a year or just a symbolic amount.
In practice, it means the tenant pays no rent.
It also shows he was required to pay a further £7.5m for refurbishments.
A document from the Crown Estate also shows he signed a 75-year lease on the property in 2003.
It reveals he paid £1m for the lease and that since then he has paid “one peppercorn” of rent “if demanded” per year.
Read More:
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Key claims from Andrew accuser’s posthumous memoir
The agreement also contains a clause which states the Crown Estate would have to pay Andrew around £558,000 if he gave up the lease.
Pressure is mounting on him to give up the 30-bedroom mansion.
Senior Tory Robert Jenrick called for Prince Andrew to live privately.
‘He has disgraced himself’
He said: “It’s about time Prince Andrew took himself off to live in private and make his own way in life.
“He has disgraced himself, he has embarrassed the royal family time and again. I don’t see why the taxpayer, frankly, should continue to foot the bill at all. The public are sick of him.”
Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir was released today. Pic: Reuters
Mr Kyle, however, said that would be a question for King Charles.
But he did say MPs could bring forward a motion to strip Prince Andrew of his remaining titles, adding it would be up to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to choose one of these motions for debate.
The government is facing increasing pressure to formally strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom.
Andrew voluntarily gave up his titles last week but will technically continue to hold them unless they are removed by an Act of Parliament.
Rachael Maskell – the independent MP for York Central – told Sky News that 88% of her constituents don’t want the duke “to carry a title bearing the name of our city”.
On the Politics Hub With Darren McCaffrey, she confirmed she is advocating for a change in the law, and argued mechanisms should be in place to remove titles.
“My legislation would be able to be applied to anybody in the future as well, so we wouldn’t have this situation ever having to occur again,” Ms Maskell added.
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‘We don’t want him bearing our city’s name’
Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party (SNP) has also warned new legislation must be put forward without “any excuses and any further delay”.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “The public knows this is the right thing to do – and even more importantly, the victims at the heart of the Epstein scandal know that it’s the right thing to do.
“Those implicated in the Epstein scandal have been able to escape justice because they have hidden behind their power and privilege.”
A proposed bill has been put forward that would also strip Lord Mandelson of his peerage – weeks after he was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US because of his own ties to the paedophile financier.
Yesterday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said the question of legislation was “a matter for the palace in the first instance” – and Downing Street “supports the judgment of the King” regarding what should happen to Prince Andrew’s titles.
Read more:
How Prince Andrew allegations unfolded
What title loss means for Andrew’s family
Prince Andrew during the Garter Ceremony Procession in Windsor. Pic: PA
Accuser’s memoir published today
Pressure has been growing on Andrew amid continued reports of his relationship with Epstein, with the royal “vigorously denying” the allegations against him.
The posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre – who had accused him of sexual assault and sued him in August 2021 – is being released today. She took her own life in April.
Amy Wallace, who co-authored Nobody’s Girl, said Ms Giuffre would have regarded Andrew relinquishing his titles as a “victory”.
She told BBC Newsnight: “Virginia wanted all the men who she’d been trafficked to against her will to be held to account and this is just one of the men but … even though he continues to deny it, his life is being eroded because of his past behaviour as it should be.”
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Claims Andrew ‘tried to dig up dirt’ on accuser
The new memoir alleges that Andrew asked a royal close protection officer to “dig up dirt” on Ms Giuffre in 2021.
A Buckingham Palace source told Sky’s royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills these claims are “being viewed with very serious and grave concern” – and “should be investigated in the proper and fullest ways”.
‘Police gaslit my sister’
Meanwhile, Ms Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law have urged the Independent Office for Police Conduct to review the Met’s decision not to continue its investigations into the allegations she made against Prince Andrew.
Sky and Amanda Roberts told Channel 4 News that Ms Giuffre had been “gaslit” by detectives – as well as British and American authorities – in what amounted to a “kick in the stomach” for her.
In other developments, questions have been raised about whether Andrew should have the right to continue living at the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Details of the financial arrangements surrounding his 30-bedroom mansion have come to light.
A copy of the leasehold agreement obtained by the PA news agency shows he signed a 75-year lease on the property in 2003 at a cost of £1m.
Since then, he has paid “one peppercorn” of rent “if demanded” per year, a term used to describe a small payment that makes a contract legally binding.
What started as a WhatsApp group for dozens of grieving families has ended up gathering enough momentum to reach Westminster.
Warning: This article contains content you may find distressing.
The parents and relatives of loved ones who have taken their own life following domestic abuse are angry, at a loss, but up for a fight.
Sharon Holland is among those furious at how difficult it is to hold a potential perpetrator accountable for their loved ones’ deaths.
Sharon Holland (L), whose daughter Chloe died by suicide
Her daughter, Chloe, died by suicide in 2023 after being in a controlling relationship.
Chloe, 23, suffered months of torment at the hands of her former partner. At the time of his conviction, police said Chloe was a victim of a “horrific campaign of coercive and controlling behaviour”.
Two years on, Ms Holland has shared experiences and developed bonds with families who have been through the same trauma.
But charges and convictions for those potentially responsible are rare. That’s despite figures from the Domestic Homicide Project, funded by the Home Office and led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, showing more domestic abuse victims take their own lives in England and Wales than are killed by their partner.
There were 1,012 domestic abuse-related deaths in England and Wales between 2020 and 2024, of which 354 were suspected suicides compared to 332 homicides.
Sharon Holland said her group ‘don’t want this happening to someone else’
Families at ‘breaking point’
Ms Holland’s group are now calling for “justice for all victims of domestic abuse-related suicides” by bringing their campaign to Westminster today.
Asked if this is a movement born out of families being at breaking point, Ms Holland said: “Absolutely.
“All of us mums or sisters all feel the same, that we don’t want this happening to someone else. It’s being dragged out for years and during that time the mums are becoming more and more ill, their health is going downhill, they’re stressed out all the time, on alert, and they just can’t get anywhere with it.
“There’s so many warnings with the police or with the NHS with various agencies that this could not end well for their daughters, and unfortunately it takes the person to die, and then we find out what the failings are.”
Families who believe there has been foul play, or know the abuse their loved ones suffered at the hands of an intimate partner contributed to them taking their own lives, say it’s difficult to be taken seriously.
“The majority of them have been fighting for five years,” Ms Holland said. “They’ve been waiting for the police to get back to them or waiting for the CPS to charge.
“One lady has just waited five years, only to finally hear back from the CPS only to find out they’re not going to charge.
“So that poor woman’s health has gone downhill, fighting for her daughter, who she suspects was a staged suicide and got nowhere.”
Pragna Patel said famillies ‘are entirely on their own’
‘Heartbreaking’ for families
Families are often fending for themselves, according to Pragna Patel, co-founder of Project Resist, a charity that supports people affected by domestic abuse and violence.
She said families “are having to navigate the system entirely on their own as they try to find out the circumstances in which their loved ones took their lives and to find out how and why this happened”.
“It’s really heartbreaking to see these families knocking at the doors of the police, knocking at the door of coroners, saying: ‘We know these deaths are suspicious, we know there is a history of coercive and controlling behaviour and domestic abuse behind these deaths, and we want you to investigate.’
“On the whole, families are met with a culture of indifference, apathy and ignorance. They’re just not getting the attention they need.”
‘We must do more,’ says minister
Ms Holland and a host of other families will gather in parliament later to meet safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.
Ahead of the meeting, Ms Phillips told Sky News: “Every death linked to domestic abuse is a tragedy. We must do more to prevent them, and I will be meeting Project Resist to discuss how we can hold perpetrators to account more effectively.
“We are funding the Domestic Homicide Project to capture information on domestic abuse related deaths, including suicides, from all 43 police forces in England and Wales to improve our understanding of this issue.
“But more needs to be done. Our upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy will set out our plans to strengthen our response to all domestic abuse related deaths.”
Jess Phillips
Sky News understands there are a number of active cases being pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Part of prosecutors’ assessment of a case includes developing an understanding of the relationship history between the victim and a potential suspect and trying to understand the victim’s state of mind before their death.
But they are relying on evidence and witness statements that need to be taken in a timely manner.
They say they are raising awareness through tailored training about the links between domestic abuse and suicide, so officers are better equipped to exercise “professional curiosity”.
Ahead of the campaign’s launch, a spokesperson for the CPS said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behaviour.
“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in proceedings which are currently active.
“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”
‘You cannot move forward’
Families so far have had to rely on the inquest to scrutinise the circumstances of their loved one’s death.
Chloe died two years ago and hers is yet to happen.
Ms Holland: “The way all this drags out, you cannot sit down, move forward and just grieve. You’re constantly on high alert, fighting everyone, and just hoping that it’ll be over soon.”
A delay for answers and further delay for grief.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
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