Frantic girl, 12, in Grenfell begged 999 operator ‘hurry up’
A GIRL aged 12 who was assured firefighters were on their way to rescue her from Grenfell Tower begged a 999 operator: “Please can you hurry up?”
Jessica Urbano Ramirez was one of 72 people who died as a result of the blaze in west London in June last year.
She fled her flat on the 20th floor before taking refuge with others on the top floor of the 24-storey tower block.
Complaining of smoke and fire below, Jessica was on the phone to London Fire Brigade control room officer Sarah Russell for an hour.
Details of her 999 call were revealed yesterday in a 70-page transcript at a public inquiry in central London.
At one point Ms Russell, who had been in the job for about nine months, assured Jessica: “They are hurrying up. Is there another room you can go into?”
Jessica replied: “No. Can you hurry up please? I’m begging you.”
Reassure
Ms Russell told her: “They are, they’re right below you. But you need to keep yourself safe.”
Giving evidence, the officer admitted she had no information that firefighters were on their way, but said she was trying to reassure the youngster.
Counsel to the inquiry Richard Millett QC asked her: “Did it occur to you that you had not yet assessed the security of the escape route and telling her that the crews were coming up, without having solid information to back that up, meant that you might be lulling her into a false sense of security?”
Ms Russell said: “At the time, no. It was based on what I would expect to happen, what should happen.
“It was more about comforting her and trying to get her through that situation.” In a written statement Ms Russell said she was glad she had stayed on the call “even if it was only to offer her a little support”. She said: “After about an hour I could not get any more response from her – only rasping sounds, then nothing. “I stayed on the line a little while longer with my hand hovered over the call termination button. “I was torn as what best to do. I eventually ended the call when the line fell silent. “Reflecting on that call, I felt completely helpless. When people are pleading with you, saying I do not want to die and I cannot physically do anything to help them, it is very hard.” Ms Russell said she would have liked to have had more experience in dealing with fire survival guidance (FSG) calls prior to the fire, having had just one day of FSG training.
She also said it would have been helpful to have had a more experienced officer next to her.
The information that Jessica had fled to a higher floor was not passed on to fire crews on the ground, who searched her flat but found no trace of the youngster.
Ms Russell said that, not long after the call ended, she became aware the advice to callers had been changed from stay put to attempt to evacuate.
But a transcript of another call showed she was still offering a “choice”.
Ms Russell added: “I was making them aware that they needed to leave and how, but if you send them out into the fire and smoke it could potentially be sending them out to a death where if they waited they may have been rescued.”