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Grenfell Inquiry day 14: fire fighters describe spread of blaze
First up answering questions this week was firefighter Thomas Abell, who was part of the team which forced their way into the flat directly above flat 16 where the fire had broken out.
Key points
- Mr Abell tells of his surprise described his surprise to find the fire had spread from flat 16 on the fourth floor to flat 26, directly above on the fifth
- He also describes persuading a man not to try to climb down the outside of the tower carrying his four-year-old daughter
- Firefighter Justin O’Beirne later told the inquiry of the moment he realised firefighters were going to have to try to evacuate the whole building
The inquiry continued today with the first of nine further firefighters due to give evidence this week. This morning, Thomas Abell from North Kensington fire station described breaking open the door to flat 26 on the fifth floor at 1.28am with another firefighter, to be met with “thick black smoke” and zero visibility.
He said: “It was like having your eyes closed, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.”
Mr Abell, a firefighter of 6 years’ experience, was surprised, saying he would “maybe expect there to be a bit of smoke in there… but the thick, black smoke that came out to floor level would indicate this is a fully involved fire in this flat, which is unusual”.
He was then left alone in the smoke for “a number of minutes” while his partner tried to sort out a snag in the hose. But when he didn’t return, Mr Abell had to evacuate.
When Richard Millet QC asked whether he alerted anyone else on the floor about the fire, Mr Abell said: “No… To be honest I was in a bad way and my legs felt like jelly. I was dragging myself out as I thought I might not get out of there.”
He later told the inquiry of how he persuaded a man not to try to climb from an upper-level flat using bed sheets tied together to form a rope, in an “impossible” attempt at escaping with his four-year-old daughter.
Mr Abell said: "I shouted as loudly as I could, I instructed him to stay where he was and not to try and exit the building via the window." Instead, the man, Oluwaseun Talabi, escaped via the stairwell with his daughter and later met Mr Abell.
Later in the afternoon, the inquiry heard from firefighter Justin O’Beirne, who told of his climb up 11 floors, eventually concluding when he found heavy smoke on the 12th that firefighters would have to “get BA [breathing apparatus] crews to every single flat”.
He said: “I had a bit of a sinking feeling when I got to what I now know was the 11th or 12th floor that there were going to be people dying in there.”
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry
Closing statements
Day 85: victims' lawyers attack the fire brigade
Further expert evidence
Including some additional evidence from emergency call handlers, bereaved and relatives
Day 84: further evidence from survivors and relatives
Day 83: swift evacuation of tower possible if residents alerted
Day 82: initial fire was extinguished but then returned to the flat
Day 81: overheating fridge-freezer most likely cause of fire
Day 80: fire doors installed did not match product tested
Day 79: resident advised to stay put despite fire in flat
Day 78: insulation and cladding material below required standard
Day 77: molten plastic spread blaze down tower
Day 76: 'stay put' should be dropped when fire spreads across floors
Other witness evidence
Police, ambulance, gas suppliers, council, TMO and call room operators give evidence
Day 75: call room operators give evidence
Day 74: further evidence from TMO officers
Day 73: TMO boss failed to pass information to firefighters
Day 72: fire finally extinguished when gas switched off
Day 71: further questions over stay put advice
Day 70: the police evidence
The bereaved, survivors and relatives’ evidence
Day 69: video shows smoke billowing through fire door
Day 68: KCTMO removed self closing mechanism and never replaced it
Day 67: gaps in cladding fixed with duct tape
Day 66: 'don't fix broken system with a sticking plaster'
Day 65: survivor dragged disabled man down nine floors to safety
Day 64: KCTMO 'did not replace broken fire door'
Day 63: foam insulation inside cladding 'exposed' says survivor
Day 62: father gives harrowing account of son's death
Day 61: council’s management organisation slammed for faulty electrics
Day 60: stay put advice ‘led to deaths’, residents say
Day 59: residents describe problems with new windows
Day 58: survivor describes how daughter saved his life
Day 57: firefighter evidence ‘a slap in the face’, says survivor
Day 56: relations with contractor were ‘toxic’
Day 55: resident 'never happy' with stay-put advice
Day 54: tenant gives evidence about housing association
Day 53: stay put advice 'felt like trap'
Day 52: resident saved by son's phone call
The firefighters’ evidence
Day 51: firefighter feared encouraging residents to jump
Day 50: the LFB commissioner
Day 49: fire chief reveals frustration over lack of building plans
Day 48: internal fire spread 'bigger story' than cladding
Day 47: fire officer considered evacuating crews over building collapse fears
Day 46: 'we were improvising' senior firefighter admits
Day 45: firefighter urged for abandonment of 'stay put' policy
Day 44: firefighter recalls radio signal difficulties
Day 43: call hander 'uncomfortable' with insisting residents stay put
Day 42: residents only told to leave if they called fire brigade back
Day 41: breathing equipment delay 'hampered rescues on upper floors'
Day 40: chiefs told firefighters to abandon policy
Day 39: firefighters reveal dramatic rescue of children
Day 38: firefighters issue aplogies to families
Day 37: council 'unable to provide tower plans'
Day 36: QC defends inquiry process
Day 35: Javid would welcome interim recommendations
Day 34: water from hose 'too weak' to reach the flames
Day 33: 'oh my god, we've been telling people to stay put'
Day 32: further fire fighter describes lack of equipment and low water pressure
Day 31: 'incredibly difficult' task of recording information outlined
Day 30: struggle to maintain control over rescue operation described
Day 29: fire service 'overwhelmed' by survival guidance calls
Day 28: 'the building beat us'
Day 27: firefighters 'forced to abandon plans to reach roof'
Day 26: poor signage hindered rescue efforts
Day 25: water pressure left firefighting equipment 'like garden hose'
Day 24: decision to abandon 'stay put' explored
Day 23: TV images 'could have assissted' rescue effort
Day 22: description of hectic scenes in the control centre
Day 21: account from the fire service 'nerve centre'
Day 20: firefighter describes 'huge volume' of calls from trapped residents
Day 19: firefighter 'given no training on cladding fires'
Day 18: evacuation would have been 'huge catastrophe'
Day 17: firefighters describe access and lift issues
Day 16: scenes of carnage likened to 9/11
Day 15: firefighters recount trauma of survival guidance calls
Day 14: firefighters describe spread of blaze
Day 13: firefighters recall radio difficulties
Day 12: "it was like a war zone"
Day 11: questions raised over fire fighters' radios
Day 10: watch manager emotional under questioning
Day nine: lead firefighter 'not trained in stay put policy'
The expert reports: authors give evidence to inquiry
Day eight: where the fire started
Day seven: what was in the cladding?
Day six: the cause and spread of the fire
Day five: expert highlights key issues
Day four: firefighters defend response to fire
Day three: council and contractors appear for the first time
Day two: lawyers for the survivors make their case
Day one: expert evidence released on cladding and stay put
The commemoration hearings
30 May: Grenfell Council 'recognised it should not house disabled victim above four storeys'
29 May: Anger on day six of the Grenfell Inquiry
25 May: Grenfell families 'forced to live in chimney with stay put policy'
24 May: Grenfell family complained about father being housed on 17th floor
23 May: Tributes to children on third day of Grenfell hearings
22 May: Emotions run high as Grenfell bereaved shown footage of the tower burning
21 May: Grenfell victims share tributes as inquiry opens
