A firefighter with London Fire Brigade who wanted to set the record straight after the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster has explained why victims were urged to stay inside their homes as the fire spread around them.
Signs inside the building advised tenants to “stay put” in the event of a fire, and those who were trapped and phoned emergency services were also reportedly told to shut themselves inside their flats.
Unfortunately the fire raged through the entire building, leaving dozens unable to escape. Police have confirmed the current death toll is 79 and is expected to rise.
Although this firefighter wasn’t on duty at Grenfell Tower, he wanted to clear up any misconceptions about the horrific events in west London.
Smoke billows from the fire at Grenfell Tower
A firefighter tackles the building after the fire broke out in the early hours
Writing on Reddit, he started a Q&A (‘Ask Me Anything’) threadentitled, ‘I’m a serving London firefighter. If you have any questions, ask away’, saying: “Events over recent days have put my profession under the spotlight. I’ve seen a lot of incorrect statements on these pages or questions being answered incorrectly.
“There have been a lot of misconceptions about what we are capable of or unable to do, so if you want anything clarifying I will try my best to answer.”
One Reddit user asked the question everyone is thinking, pointing out that residents were told to “stay put” in the event of a fire – even when they called emergency services.
Writing on Reddit, he started a Q&A (‘Ask Me Anything’) thread entitled, ‘I’m a serving London firefighter. If you have any questions, ask away’, saying: “Events over recent days have put my profession under the spotlight. I’ve seen a lot of incorrect statements on these pages or questions being answered incorrectly.
“There have been a lot of misconceptions about what we are capable of or unable to do, so if you want anything clarifying I will try my best to answer.”
One Reddit user asked the question everyone is thinking, pointing out that residents were told to “stay put” in the event of a fire – even when they called emergency services.
Hero firefighters took only six minutes to respond the first reports of the inferno
They wrote: “Have you ever advised people to stay inside a burning building? When is this ever good advice? What happens when emergency services can’t reach a person? Are they supposed to try to save themselves somehow or accept death?”
This was the firefighter’s response
“In a block of flats there is usually a stairwell that runs the height of the building, if there is a fire on the 5th floor for example, as soon as we open the front door to tackle the fire, the lobby, and the stairwell will fill with smoke and unburnt fire gases throughout the height of the building above the 5th floor.
“If you were living on floors above the fire you would have to be breathing in this smoke and toxic fumes whilst making your way down. Your best choice is to stay in your flat, cover the edges of doors with blankets etc, let the fire brigade know that you are in your property.
“What appears to have happened yesterday [Wednesday] is completely unique. Staying in your flat is 99.9% of the time the safest thing to do. If you are in a house, then getting out of the property is a lot more feasible.”
He also wrote: “If there is a fire below you definitely stay put, close all doors between you and any source of fire and smoke and notify the fire brigade of your location and follow their advice.
“Grenfell Tower was a unique set of circumstances by the looks of it, and staying put has saved many many lives in the past.”
One person tried to argue with the firefighter’s expertise and suggested that staying put wasn’t the right thing to do.
They wrote: “Staying put sounds mad to me. If I ever live in a high rise I’m buying a respirator so I can get the f*** out when I feel in danger.”
The firefighter replied: “A respirator won’t compensate for the lack of oxygen in the air or the heat, or the increase In carbon monoxide and dioxide.
“Staying put is the safest thing, it has worked in the past, this was a set of circumstances not ever seen before.
Another person suggested holding your breath and running would be the right thing to do.
“Say it takes you about a minute to run down all of the stairs from say, the 8th floor. What if you can basically just hold your breath for the duration?” they said.
The firefighter hit back with a valid point: “And what if everyone else in the building is thinking the same thing, someone trips, the stairs get congested, you all get stuck…”
Police confirmed this morning that the death toll from the Grenfell Tower fire has risen to 79.
They expect that number to increase.
