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The Camberwell tower block fire, which took such a terrible toll in human life, has raised some serious questions, not just about how the fire services dealt with the blaze but about the chance of another tragedy elsewhere.
Our reports today suggest that some of the problem lay with the design of the block, a late-Fifties building which had no external staircase - a precaution familiar to Victorian architects.
The narrow fire exits led to the central stairwell and there was no other way of getting out of the building.
The obvious danger was what would happen if the stairwell itself took fire or filled with smoke, which is precisely what took place.
That in turn may explain why fire services appear to have told some people to return to their maisonettes, in order to try to clear the stairwell.
But as some of the residents alleged in an angry meeting with the fire brigade last night, this may have meant some people were then unable to make their escape.
This is a question that the fire services have to address. But the fact remains that there are other blocks of flats with similar design, with no external fire escape route, just a central stairwell - including a near-identical block nearby.
All local authorities will have to consider the implications of the fire for their buildings.
There were other problems that may have contributed to the tragedy. There were fire doors - but vandals had taken the hinges off some of them. Sometimes residents would block the fire escape passages with rubbish bags.
Some electrical wiring was exposed when wooden panels were ripped from the walls. These are problems common in tower blocks and they are the result of the failings of individuals.
Petty vandalism may cost lives. It did not help that local authority inspections were less frequent than in the past.
This was by no means a sink estate, but the block's design, shared by other buildings, may have condemned some of its residents to death.
Nuclear progress
It is one of the ironies of our time that just as nuclear weapons have fallen out of fashion as a matter of political concern - protesters now are more likely to be worked up about climate change - real progress is being made in diminishing their number.
The meeting between the US president, Barack Obama, and his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev, was important in substance as well as tone precisely because it consolidated progress towards reducing the number of warheads held by each side to between 1,500 and 1,675 each.
However, because of the underestimated good work achieved by George Bush and Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Treaty in 2002, the number of missiles that the two countries must now decommission is only 25 each. No matter.
The trajectory here is towards continuing reductions in the number of nuclear weapons. The real difficulty with disarmament now is other, problem, nuclear states, which already include Pakistan and Israel and potentially North Korea and Iran.
Today it could be said that Mr Obama cuts out the middle-man when he meets the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, generally regarded as the real power in the land.
The meeting demonstrates the thaw in US-Russian relations, notwithstanding Russian concerns about US plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe.
This has not prevented Russia allowing the US access to Afghanistan through its airspace, a solid concession.
Of course the two states still own enough missiles to destroy each other many times over but we should be grateful they are moving in the right direction.
Fitting memorial
The London July bombings took place four years ago today, but for the victims and their families the consequences are ever-present.
Today's unveiling of the moving and dignified memorial in Hyde Park is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the tragedy and is a lasting symbol of London's solidarity with its victims.
