SEVENTY-ONE people were killed by the fire that engulf(吞噬；吞没)ed Grenfell Tower(格伦费尔塔火灾) in 2017. A kitchen blaze(大火；烈焰) on the fourth floor of the 24-storey building quickly became a raging inferno(炼狱；熊熊大火) fuelled by the tower's external cladding(覆层；外墙包层). This week the Metropolitan Police announced that it had submitted 20 files to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charges including manslaughter(过失杀人罪), fraud and misconduct in public office(公职人员渎职罪) against 20 companies and 54 people.
2017年，格伦费尔塔被大火吞噬，71人丧生。这座24层大楼四层厨房起火，火势迅速蔓延，外墙覆层助燃，最终酿成熊熊炼狱。本周，伦敦警察厅宣布已向皇家检察署提交20份案卷，拟对20家公司和54名个人提出过失杀人、欺诈及公职人员渎职等指控。
Prosecutions are not the only legacy(遗产；遗留影响) of Grenfell. In 2025 the government promised to take action on all 61 of the recommended changes from the seven-year-long inquiry(调查；听证会) that examined the causes of the fire. Only half of them have so far gone through. Thousands of people are still living in homes with flammable(易燃的) cladding like Grenfell. A new rule has just come into force that was not recommended by the inquiry.(一项调查从未建议的新规刚刚生效。) It is likely to gum up(搞乱；使停滞) homebuilding and make high-rise dwellings little safer.
起诉并非格伦费尔事件唯一的遗产。2025年，政府承诺对这场历时七年、调查火灾起因的听证会所提出的全部61项建议采取行动。但迄今为止，仅有一半得到落实。仍有数千人居住在像格伦费尔那样带有可燃覆层的房屋中。而一项调查从未建议的新规刚刚生效。它很可能拖累住宅建设，却几乎无法提升高层住宅的安全性。
From September 30th all new residential blocks at least 18 metres tall (approximately seven storeys) will require a second staircase for evacuation(疏散；撤离). The inquiry itself concluded that Grenfell Tower's single staircase had "sufficient capacity to enable all the occupants of the building to escape within a reasonable time".(调查本身得出结论：格伦费尔塔的单部楼梯“容量充足，足以让楼内所有住户在合理时间内逃生”。) An independent review of high-rise building safety in 2018 did not recommend second staircases.
自9月30日起，所有高度至少18米（约七层）的新建住宅楼都必须配备第二部疏散楼梯。调查本身得出结论：格伦费尔塔的单部楼梯“容量充足，足以让楼内所有住户在合理时间内逃生”。2018年一项关于高层建筑安全的独立审查也未建议设置第二部楼梯。
