The Eye Of Media

By James Simons And Sammie Jones-

The Greenfell Tower inquiry has played CCTV recordings of the fateful night of the fire, in moving scenes that lays bare the grim reality of the horrifying ordeal survivors and victims went through.

In one scene, the tenant of the flat where the Grenfell Tower fire actually began is seen fleeing the building barefoot. Behailu Kebede escaped the fire after being awoken by the fire at 1am on June 14, when he discovered white smoke billowing from behind his fridge-freezer.

Kebede first alerted two of his two female housemates, Elsa Afeworki and Almaz Kinfu, then knocked on every door of the neighbouring flats on the block’s fourth floor and then rushing outside.

The 45 year old former resident was also seen urging other residents out of the building.CCTV stills shown at the public inquiry into the disaster on Thursday shows another former resident, Ms Afeworki walking down the stairs into the main lobby at approximately 12.56am, two minutes after the first 999 call.

She is followed around 12.58am by Mr Kebede, seen wearing just a T-shirt and a pair of trousers, but no shoes. The Ethopian Uber car driver had lived in the block for 25 years said in a lengthy statement 3 weeks ago that he had complained about a window refit to the council and his local MP. This window has subsequently been blamed for the spread of the fire.

Segments of his 999 call at 12.54am were translated from Amharic to English. At one point he can be heard reprimanding a resident for trying to take her luggage with her. He says:

“Grab it and leave, just leave. What kind of person is she?”

CCTV showed other residents fleeing the building as the fire spread up flammable cladding, Mr Kebede told the inquiry, the kitchen window was replaced during the work, which “caused problems” as “air was entering my flat through these gaps” around the frame. Experts believe the inferno on June 14 escaped through gaps around Mr Kebede’s window on to the external façade.

Mr Kebede, however, said he had “no idea” that “highly flammable cladding” had been installed on the outside of the building. He also told the inquiry he saw the fire get ”bigger and bigger”, as he stood outside the building.

When fire fighters entered the building, they were faced with the huge challenging of quenching what would later turn out to be one of Britain’s worst ever disasters. A second-by-second report detailing the challenges faced by fire fighters, as well as tragic details of victims’ final moments was outlined in a piece titled Operational Response To Grenfell Tower, covering between 12.50am and 2am on June 14.

The fire began in a fourth-floor flat at around 12.50am, eating through a kitchen window before it “travelled up 19 floors in 12 minutes”, the LFB review said.

The report states that over 140 fire engines had been sent to tackle the blaze with up to 720 fire fighters. by 8pm the next evening. Deputy assistant commissioner, Andrew Bell, told the inquiry that it was “probably” the largest ever deployment of firefighter breathing apparatus in the UK. The report also stated how a young 12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez spent 55 minutes on the phone to an emergency operator after taking shelter on the top floor, the report disclosed.

Fire crews also struggled to maintain access to the building due to a key fob system automatically locking the fire door. Clearly no provision for an emergency of this nature was made in advance in relation to this key fob. It is extremely disappointing that the effect of a key fob automatically locking the fire door was never considered by the authorities. More questions will be asked as to what the MP who was contacted did about the complaints made by his residents about the window refit and everything in relation to poor claddings and lack of action to address the poor state of the tower.

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