Charles Mudede The London housing tower was erected in the early 1970s. Did fine for more than 40 years. Then yesterday, it suddenly burned to a crisp. Was it a terrorist bomb that made the fire so fierce? Numerous people thought so, and began tweeting racist attacks at London’s Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan. But it only took 12 hours for another completely different—and probably truer—picture to emerge: no terrorists but regeneration (a relative of urban renewal). There are now reports that the materials used to beautify the building for rich neighbors are what turned an ordinary fire into a towering inferno that killed 12 people. Between 2015–2016, “the concrete structure received new windows and new aluminum composite cladding (Arconic Reynobond and Reynolux material) with thermal insulation.”
