Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Government complacency leaves fire services unprepared for another Grenfell-style tragedy, FBU warns
Firefighters tackle a large fire on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire in April

FIREFIGHTERS have warned that the government’s complacency and patchy provisions for fire services means that crews are unprepared for another Grenfell-style tragedy.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said today that Tory fire minister Nick Hurd is to blame for failing to equip fire services to deal with incidents similar to the June 2017 blaze at Grenfell Tower, which claimed the lives of 72 people.

Some fire services would only be capable of sending two fire engines to a blaze in a high-rise block, evidence released by the union shows.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
I’ACCUSE...! A comment left among tributes close to Grenfell Tower in west London the day after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building
Features / 23 May 2026
23 May 2026

YVETTE WILLIAMS and JOE DELANEY dissect the institutional dawdling that rubbed salt into the Grenfell open wounds prolonging the agony of survivors