Thankfully high rise fires are not a common sight in this country, or the world. Unfortunately with Grenfell {as with 9/11} the job of getting people out of a burning high rise is all but impossible, and whilst people live and work in tower blocks/skyscrapers it will remain almost impossible, mistakes were definitely made. The London brigade, and I suspect the nationwide's brigades policy of telling people, if a fire starts, STAY IN YOUR FLAT is all very well if the fire is on the 20th floor and your on the 1st floor, but if it was the other way round you wouldn't catch me sitting like a turkey in an oven waiting for the gas to be lit.
Take for example, on discovering, a chip pan fire...... what do you do?
A/ leave it burning whilst you run round to your neighbours telling them there's a fire and then ring the fire brigade
OR
B/ turn off the gas run a tea towel under the tap and throw it over the pan then ring.
Of course people panic, different people react to situations differently. How many people do you think, especially those with young children, have actually thought about what they would do if a fire broke out in their home and how many have shown their kids what to do!
I've been guilty of that. My 2 are both in their forties now and I never did and neither in fact did MY parents, and in those days you went to bed with the fire dampened down, but still in {in our house it was 2 fires} I think everyone walks round with that It will never happen to me attitude and I believe this is what causes the panic and the subsequent not thinking straight.
Most people have smoke detectors fitted which give people a fair warning and so can make good their escape, mine are situated in the hall nearest the kitchen door and the other at the top of the landing and come hell or high water the batteries are changed every xmas
This is why I always check where fire escapes, hoses and evacuation notices are when I'm on holiday and have booked into a strange hotel.
Only the other week there was a hotel fire abroad basically caused by drunk youths trying to set fire to one of their mates feet {as a joke} by using an aerosol can and it set the apartment on fire. Now you understand my caution when you are sharing a hotel with mindless dross like that.