A Professor of Fire and Structures at the University of Edinburgh has given evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry for a second time.
Professor Luke Bisby says new video evidence from eyewitnesses has narrowed down the reasons why fire spread rapidly at the tower on 14 June 2017.
He has also changed his report in light of eyewitness testimony to the Inquiry.
Professor Bisby previously gave evidence to the inquiry in June 2018.
His revised report says the fire started in flat 16 on level 4 of the building. It left the flat either through a extractor fan vent or through material surrounding the window.
Both the fan and window surround contained materials that burn easily and offer little resistance to fire spread.
Cladding acted as ‘fuel’
Once outside the flat, the fire met insulating cladding on the outside of the building. At this point Professor Bisby says that rapid spread of the fire was “inevitable”.
He believes this was due to the cladding itself containing highly flammable polyethylene that acted like “fuel”.
Videos shown in court showed the fire grew and spread within minutes to reach the area outside the flat above flat 16.
Continuous vertical channels on the outside of the building also contributed to rapid vertical spread of the fire. These channels were also made of polyethylene and contained no breaks to prevent fire spreading to floors above and below.
Aesthetic ‘fuse’
A polyethylene crown at the top of the building served no structural purpose according to Professor Bisby, but acted like a “fuse”.
This allowed very rapid horizontal spread of the fire across all sides of the building.
Molten polyethlene was also released from the cladding when the crown burned, falling onto lower levels and forming “pool fires”.
This allowed the fire to spread from the roof to lower levels that were not already on fire .
Tests underway
Professor Bisby is conducting tests that will allow him to reach firmer conclusions about how much each material used in the building contributed to the fire.
He will also look at how the building layout accelerated the fire developing and spreading.
This evidence will be heard in the next phase of the inquiry.
Expert witnesses are giving revised evidence to the Inquiry all week.
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HeadlineGrenfell: Cladding acted like ‘fuel’ making fire spread ‘inevitable’, expert tells inquiry
Short HeadlineGrenfell: Cladding acted like 'fuel' - expert witness
StandfirstExpert witness has revised his evidence in the light of new witness evidence and videos from the night of the fire.
A Professor of Fire and Structures at the University of Edinburgh has given evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry for a second time.
Professor Luke Bisby says new video evidence from eyewitnesses has narrowed down the reasons why fire spread rapidly at the tower on 14 June 2017.
He has also changed his report in light of eyewitness testimony to the Inquiry.
Professor Bisby previously gave evidence to the inquiry in June 2018.
His revised report says the fire started in flat 16 on level 4 of the building. It left the flat either through a extractor fan vent or through material surrounding the window.
Both the fan and window surround contained materials that burn easily and offer little resistance to fire spread.
Cladding acted as ‘fuel’
Once outside the flat, the fire met insulating cladding on the outside of the building. At this point Professor Bisby says that rapid spread of the fire was “inevitable”.
He believes this was due to the cladding itself containing highly flammable polyethylene that acted like “fuel”.
Videos shown in court showed the fire grew and spread within minutes to reach the area outside the flat above flat 16.
Continuous vertical channels on the outside of the building also contributed to rapid vertical spread of the fire. These channels were also made of polyethylene and contained no breaks to prevent fire spreading to floors above and below.
Aesthetic ‘fuse’
A polyethylene crown at the top of the building served no structural purpose according to Professor Bisby, but acted like a “fuse”.
This allowed very rapid horizontal spread of the fire across all sides of the building.
Molten polyethlene was also released from the cladding when the crown burned, falling onto lower levels and forming “pool fires”.
This allowed the fire to spread from the roof to lower levels that were not already on fire .
Tests underway
Professor Bisby is conducting tests that will allow him to reach firmer conclusions about how much each material used in the building contributed to the fire.
He will also look at how the building layout accelerated the fire developing and spreading.
This evidence will be heard in the next phase of the inquiry.
Expert witnesses are giving revised evidence to the Inquiry all week.
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