'A victim of greed': Bereaved sisters pay tribute to ‘hero' brother who died in the Grenfell Tower fire
On 14 June 2017, a fire broke out in a kitchen at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, London. It spread at an unprecedented rate, engulfing the 24-storey building and raging for 60 hours as the fire brigade battled to control it. As a result of the 'decades of failure' (uncovered in the seven-year-long inquiry that followed), 72 people heartbreakingly died in Grenfell Tower, with 70 others left injured.
Now, a new Netflix documentary examines the factors which led to the fire at Grenfell, as well as paying its respects to those that passed away, speaking to families to hear their stories.
One such story on Grenfell: Uncovered is that of Raymond 'Moses' Bernard, who died fighting to protect the other residents amidst the inferno. The 63-year-old grandfather was well-known to the Grenfell community, having lived in the tower block for 30 years. He was beloved around West London in general, his family say, having moved to the UK from the Caribbean in the 1960s, when he was just 16.
'He was known as a sound man,' Ray's sister Jackie recalls to Cosmopolitan UK. 'He went to all the clubs to play Soca music and reggae. He was well-known around Carnival.'
'Ray was a real gentle soul,' agrees younger sister Bernie. 'He was widely known for his generosity and for always putting other people first.
'He had a reputation for being a protector.'
While Ray, who lived on the 24th floor of Grenfell, saw the tower block as its home, it didn't mean his flat was without its faults.
Bernie, who visited Ray often and also considered Grenfell to be a home from home, said Ray's flat had a leak in its ceiling.
However, when Ray (or Bernie, calling on Ray's behalf) complained to the Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, who supervised Grenfell at the time, Bernie explains he was treated 'like an irritation'.
'They were often extremely rude,' Bernie recalls, 'Or they'd tell you they'd get back to you, but more often than not, they didn't. They weren't there to help. In my opinion, they completely forgot their role.'
It was particularly worrying, as Ray became less able-bodied as he got older, with his severe arthritis meaning he sometimes walked with a stick.
On the night of the fire itself, Bernie wasn't immediately concerned about Ray's safety. She had been called by a friend who lived nearby, who alerted her to the incident.
'It was a big concrete block,' she says. 'There had been fires in the past at Grenfell that had always been contained. So when I first got the call asking whether Ray was home, I wasn't concerned at all. In the UK, your home is meant to be a safe place. I didn't have any idea what was going to transpire.
'I knew something was wrong when my friend rang again and I heard the panic in her voice. When I turned on the TV, I couldn't believe what I was seeing – but I kept telling myself Ray was going to be okay.'
However, as part of a refurbishment of the Grenfell Tower block in 2016, the exterior of the building had been clad in an aluminium composite material (ACM) with polyethylene (PE) at its core. PE is highly flammable, which led to the quick spread of the fire.
Residents were also not told to evacuate Grenfell; at the time, high-rise buildings in the UK had a 'stay put' policy, as fires were thought to be able to be contained in individual flats.
It was a survivor of the Grenfell fire that informed Bernie and Jackie of Ray's bravery on the night of the blaze. While people were standing in hallways, as smoke flooded into their flats, Ray helped those looking for shelter and allowed them into his home which was less impacted at that time. As the smoke started to infiltrate, he let the women and children take refuge in his bedroom, while he kept trying to keep people safe.
'She wanted us to know that Ray was doing everything he possibly could to stop the fire from entering his apartment,' Bernie says, biting back tears.
It was thought Ray died by the inhalation of toxic smoke. His body, which was identified via dental records, was found at the foot of his bed, while others found there were huddled on the bed.
'We know that he was the kind of person who would have done everything he could to ease the suffering of the people in his apartment,' Jackie says.
It was testament to Ray's character, Bernie adds, that the last conversation she ever had with her older brother was about their mother, who was sick at the time.
'He basically said that our mum was his queen, and we needed to do whatever we can to look after her,' she recalls. 'Our mum passed just a few months after Grenfell. We think she died of a broken heart, as Ray was the favourite son.'
Despite the Grenfell Tower inquiry finding a catalogue of failure and errors from the UK government and building authorities, there have been no criminal charges made at the time of writing.
While the inquiry's 1700-page report suggested a number of recommendations to be implemented, for Bernie, nowhere near enough has been done to honour those who died in the fire, or for those families left to mourn them.
'For me, nothing's really changed,' she says. 'How could this have happened in the UK? There's still buildings with that cladding on it, and no-one has taken responsibility. The inquiry just showed everyone passing the buck.'
Earlier this year, the government announced plans to demolish Grenfell Tower – however, not everyone necessarily wants the building to be removed entirely as it acts as a second memorial site to those who died.
'I understand that the tower has to come down,' Bernie says. 'We need to have a place where we can go to grieve the people that were cremated in that building.'
Now, with eight years having passed since Grenfell, both Bernie and Jackie want Ray to be remembered for the hero that he was – but also that his death was entirely avoidable.
'He was a beautiful person,' Jackie says. 'He was caring, loving and giving.'
Bernie adds: 'We also want him to be remembered as being a victim of greed, corruption, and dishonesty.'
In a statement to Cosmopolitan UK, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation said: 'We are acutely conscious of the terrible impact that this tragedy has had on the bereaved, the survivors, their relatives, and the broader Grenfell Tower community. We accept that the TMO contributed to this and we are deeply sorry.
'We continue to offer our deepest condolences and sympathies to all those affected.
'We sincerely hope that the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will lead to safer homes for all those in social housing.'
The KCTMO relinquished its role as a housing provider in February 2018 to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
It now exists for the sole purpose of supporting the public inquiry and all other legal proceedings resulting from the Grenfell Tower tragedy. There are no staff currently in place who were employed at the time of the tragedy.
Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
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