Firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower fire have secured up to £1.1m each in compensation after they sued construction companies, the landlord of the council block and the London fire commissioner.
Rewording: A total of £20m will be paid out to 114 firefighters, with individual payouts ranging from £10,000 to £1.1m. This settlement was reached out-of-court and is reminiscent of a previous payout of £150m made last year in a civil claim filed by almost 900 individuals affected by the disaster in west London, which claimed the lives of 72 people.
Negotiations are currently taking place between attorneys representing a smaller group of tower residents, senior fire officers, and police officers.
A few of the firefighters were unable to resume their duties due to significant emotional distress. Claims were filed for personal injury and damages, citing allegations of negligence and failure to fulfill statutory obligations while responding to the fire on June 14, 2017.
Vincent Reynolds, an attorney from Thompsons Solicitors who represented the firefighters through the Fire Brigades Union, stated that the fire put them in situations beyond their imagination.
“We anticipate that this resolution will provide some form of closure for these firefighters, even though we acknowledge that for many, their injuries will have long-lasting effects,” he stated.
The firefighters would have likely argued, in the event of a trial, that the London fire brigade shared responsibility due to inadequate training and readiness for high-rise fires. They also would have criticized the handling of the stay-put policy, which advised residents to stay in their apartments.
Reynolds said the organisations that settled were Arconic, the US firm which made the combustible cladding; Celotex, the arm of the multinational company Saint Gobain which made the combustible insulation; Rydon, the main contractor, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its tenants management organisation. The companies have been approached for comment.
The London fire brigade’s representative, who was involved in the agreement, stated: “We are dedicated to taking all possible measures to ensure that this disaster is not repeated and have been making diligent efforts to change and enhance our procedures. Assistance is still accessible to those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, as well as our entire staff.”
The government is under increasing pressure to allocate funds for the Grenfell Tower memorial, worth millions of pounds. Prominent members of the community are urging for “greater financial assurance”. Sandra Ruiz, a member of the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission and aunt of 12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez who perished in the fire, spoke out on the matter during the Grenfell Testimony Week event with government representatives.
The government predicts that the expenses for maintaining the Grenfell Tower location and supporting the memorial will eventually total £340m. However, the budget for the memorial and its maintenance is still uncertain.
Ruiz stated that promises are made hastily, but action is slow to be taken. This leads to a growing sense of injustice and the pain of not having a place to remember. Is this delay intentional in order for people to forget?
The commission, led by Paul Boateng and Thelma Stober, has stated that they cannot issue a design brief for the memorial until there is more clarity on the budget and the government’s commitments. Boateng, a former Labour minister, and Stober, a solicitor and mediator, issued this statement on Wednesday.
The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities has been requested to provide a statement.
Source: theguardian.com
