Grenfell Tower fire
Many people believe this rapid spread was due to the outside of the building, which had been changed recently. This cladding seemed to contain highly flammable material. Many residents complained about poor fire safety and other problems with the building, which was managed on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The residents' organisation, Grenfell Action Group, had repeatedly warned of major fire safety problems since 2013, and also noted past fires and fire-related incidents in similar blocks managed by the same company, which they felt were related to poor fire safeguards and management company fire policies. One of these policies told residents to stay in their flats in case of fire. The group warned in November 2016 that only a "catastrophic" fire would finally force the block's management to treat fire precautions and maintenance of fire-related systems to a proper standard.