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Grenfell Inquiry day 51: fire chief feared he would encourage people to jump as he tried to beckon them out of the building
A senior fire manager who attended the Grenfell blaze said he was hesitant to beckon people down from higher windows in case it was misconstrued as encouraging them to jump, and struggled to communicate the evacuate order to residents.
Dave O’Neill, a group manager for operational policy at the London Fire Brigade, said he was made aware that two people had already jumped from the building when he arrived at the scene in the early hours of the morning.
He also said he could see a number of people inside the tower, including one man waving a towel from a window.
“At this point the block looked like a derelict building, there were lots of faces at windows with orange glow behind them. It did not look good,” he said.
The manager, who was tasked with identifying hazards such as falling debris during the fire, said when the instruction to residents was changed from stay put to evacuate, he had no way of communicating it apart from a loud hailer.
“I was very mindful that waving of arms and beckoning, and I do recall considering that, may have been misconstrued as asking people to jump,” he said.
“For that reason I discounted, if you like, physical communication. I am very clear about that because I did not want to encourage that.
“We went back to the loud hailer and really it was the responsibility of those working inside.” He said that he had no way of knowing whether residents understood the advice.
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Mr O’Neill talked extensively about his concerns about the possibility that the tower would collapse as the fire progressed.
He said that he had several conversations with other senior managers about the risks to firefighters working within the building but decided to keep pursuing the rescue effort regardless.
“In any other incident would that have been an acceptable level of risk?” Andrew Kinnier, counsel to the inquiry, asked. “No, absolutely not,” Mr O’Neill replied.
“[Assistant commissioner Andy Roe and I] had several discussions during the night about at what point do we stop,” he said, adding that they decided to continue even if it meant “serious injury to one of our firefighters”.
Among other things, he had considered getting a helicopter to rescue people from the roof of the tower but decided that it was not viable because of the heat coming from the top of the building.
He praised the teams who worked to try and save people during the blaze. “I hope no one feels any sense of guilt, they did everything possible and more, it was exceptional work. I have since found our equipment as high as the 22nd floor.”
He added: “It was an unprecedented amount of resources deployed but I feel it was an impossible task to save everyone.
“I certainly felt that this should not be happening in the UK today.”
The inquiry also heard from two firefighters who had visited Grenfell Tower before the fire in order to establish how to fight a blaze at the building, particularly after it was refurbished.
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
