Grenfell Tower Fire: "The First Thing I Noticed was the Smell"

by Torbjørn Jørstad

Grenfell tower burning on the morning of June 14th, 2017, seen from Bramley Road ©SATISH PUJI

The early hours of the Grenfell fire were a chaotic whirlwind of events. Two locals recall the drama of that morning.

June 13th, 2017 ended like any other day that summer. In his flat in High Street Kensington, graphic design freelancer and hobby photographer Satish Pujji (32) is having a late-night gaming session. At around 4 in the morning, he checks the news, only to be met by flashing headlines and pictures showing an apartment block, only minutes from his home, in flames.

Local resident and hobby photographer Satish Pujji rushed to document the disaster on the morning of the fire

“I’ve done a few photography gigs, but never anything newsworthy. I thought to myself ‘I have to document this, this is a major event’,” he says. Pujji, who has lived in the area for most of his life, quickly recognizes the burning building as the nearby Grenfell tower, grabs his camera and jumps on his bike.

“The first thing I noticed when I got to Ladbroke Grove was the smell. There was this scent of ash in the air which you noticed right away,” he recalls, arriving around 5 in the morning.

“I rounded a corner and that was the first time I saw the burning building. There were fire engines left and right, and whole families came out of their houses to talk to their neighbours see the building. I doubted anyone got hurt, I mean it’s West London, everyone gets evacuated, right?” he says.

Local street artist Max Livingstone tells of an eerie atmosphere among those seeing the tower on fire

Also at the scene was Max Livingstone, a local street artist. He remembers seeing the flames engulfing the tower, and the thick black smoke surrounding it.

“There were several of us standing together and watching from the [Notting Hill] Methodist church. It was an almost eerie atmosphere around. I think most people watching couldn’t believe this was happening right here,” he says.

Here Saleem Vaillancourt, project manager for Paint The Change explains why they decided to do a mural in honour of Grenfell:

To read Torbjørn's investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster and how art helps the community in recovery, pick up a copy of Issue 1.

Or CHECK OUT our gallery for the story in pictures.

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