Grenfell fire chief the bravest man I know, says sister
THE fire chief who led the Grenfell Tower rescue was yesterday defended by his sister as he was implicated in damning communication failures.
Jane Dowden praised her brother Michael as the “bravest man I know” following his evidence at the disaster inquiry.
Mr Dowden, commander for the first hour of the operation, admitted that he felt “helpless” as flames reached the top of the 24-storey block.
He was devastated after witnessing the inferno spread through 19 floors of the west London block in just 12 minutes.
The inquiry heard that after the tragedy, which left 72 people dead, he wrote a note which laid bare his desperation. It said: “All my experience now gone out of the window, very daunting moment, I felt helpless.”
The hearing was also told that Mr Dowden, who has 14 years’ experience in the London brigade, had no direct contact with firefighters inside the building until 1.30am.
Messages were supposed to be relayed to him on the ground from officers at the “bridgehead” – a safe air space two floors below the flat on fire – but few arrived. Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry, took him through messages his colleagues claimed had been sent but which he did not receive.
He asked: “By 1.30am, you had not received any direct communication with your firefighters that had gone into the building?”
The witness replied: “From my memory, my recollection, that is correct.”
Mr Dowden, giving evidence for the third day running, added that although he did not remember the messages he did not seek to “discredit” accounts.
He said he failed to pass on information about what he was seeing at Grenfell Tower to the control room, apart from that people were involved.
The incident commander sent two messages to control, warning “persons reported” but did not furnish them with further details to aid fire survival guidance calls.
At the end of his evidence, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick thanked him for speaking with “courage, candour and without shying away from the difficult questions of which, I’m afraid, there have been many”.
He continued: “You set a really good example to those who may be asked to come and give evidence later on so thank you very much indeed.”
Miss Dowden praised her brother after the inquiry was halted on Tuesday when he broke down in tears.
Hundreds of social media users were quick to praise the firefighter for his response to the blaze and his bravery for helping the investigation.
His sister Jane was one who joined the discussion writing: “The bravest man I know and so very proud to call him my brother.”
The inquiry continues today. his colleagues’