ects of Grenfell Continue to Emerge: Dozens of Firefighters Diagnosed with Terminal Cancer

Genevieve

Up to a dozen re ghters who dealt with the re at Grenfell Tower have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. e cancers diagnosed thus far mainly consist of digestive cancers and leukaemia. Survivors from the event have called for medical screenings, as they still remain susceptible to other illnesses including strokes, heart disease and kidney failure.

e people of London and the rest of the UK were le horri ed on 14 June 2017 as the 24-storey block of ats in North Kensington caught alight. e re was believed to have originated from a faulty fridge freezer. More than 1,300 re ghters from the London Fire Brigade attended the scene, with the re claiming 74 lives.

e tragedy that occurred at Grenfell Tower is said to have exposed the neglect on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which a High Court judge found liable for the deaths of ve people. e severity of the incident can be traced back to the aluminium cladding, which was chosen in order to reduce the cost of the renovation work, despite the fact that it lacked su cient re-retardant properties. is was brought to the attention of the Council in the form of numerous complaints from residents, yet the council still failed to act. Sadiq Khan, th e Mayor of London, expressed his anger towards the ‘years of neglect from the council and successive Governments,’ implying that the events which transpired in June 2017 re ect wider social inequalities that remain embedded in governmental institutions. e Mayor went on to detail the people and communities a ected by the tragedy, ‘some of them are poor, some may come from deprived backgrounds, some of them may be Asylum seekers and Refugees’. Grenfell Tower was mostly occupied by social renting tenants.

Five and a half years later, the stinging e ects of the tragedy can still be felt. e overall physical impact on the re ghters and survivors of the re is yet to be con rmed, as the longterm e ects of exposure to smoke and chemicals may take years to present themselves. e ne particles that are found in smoke can lead to aggravated chronic heart and lung disease. Moreover, dust and oil deposits that were found 160 metres from the block of ats were analysed, and it was found that they contained particles that can lead to respiratory complications including asthma. Studies show that the presence of these toxic contaminants found in the vicinity of Grenfell Tower could pose ‘serious, long-term implications for the health of emergency responders, clean-up workers and local residents.’ Responders outside the tower days a er the blaze were also reported to have not been wearing protective kits, which experts have argued could have exposed them to toxin levels which might have been far worse following the blaze. bereaved families, survivors, evacuated residents and the wider local community. A public inquiry is ongoing, and is set to conclude its ndings in the Autumn of 2023. e Building Safety Act was passed in April 2022, outlining the safety requirements of landlords of higher-risk buildings. e long-lasting e ects of Grenfell remain prominent ve years later and serve as a stark reminder of the failures of the systems on which so many people depend. e a ected communities are now striving for greater understanding and action on behalf of the government. e events surrounding the re in Grenfell Tower have sparked movements of a national scale in aid of those a ected, ensuring that the right support is available and that this situation will never be repeated. Riccardo la Tore, a Fire Brigades Union national o cial spoke of the inaction on behalf of the Government and re bosses ‘ e Fire Brigades Union is commissioning further research to help us demand proper protection and support for our members who attended Grenfell, and for re ghters all over the UK.’ A community-led organisation called Justice 4 Grenfell has also been established to ‘obtain justice for the

Presently, up to 12 re ghters have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. e long-lasting e ects of the Grenfell tragedy have not only been re ected in the physical toll on re ghters’ and survivors’ bodies, but have also manifested in the deterioration of mental health. Suicidal thoughts have been reported among Fire ghters who attended the scene, as well as the psychological e ect on bereaved families also a ected by the re.

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