Grenfell fire chief failed to make compulsory safety checks before tragedy

The fire brigade commander who was in charge of the initial response to the Grenfell Tower fire has admitted he had no idea that fires could spread through cladding. Michael Dowden told the public inquiry into the disaster that he had failed to make a series of compulsory safety checks on the building in the months before it happened, and had little knowledge of how to evacuate a high-rise block.