This Morning Emergency Services Award Grenfell firefighters
In the early hours of June 14, firefighters were called to the 220ft Grenfell Tower.
A fire in a flat on the fourth floor quickly spread through the 24-storey tower block in West London. The first fire crews arrived six minutes after the alarm was raised.
Commander Richard Welch, one of the first senior officers at the scene, described how the flames kept spreading as more and more firefighters arrived.
He says: “Initially they had six machines. Then they asked for eight, then 10, then 15, 20 and 25. Every single person within that building was willing to lose their own life to try to save others. Every single person.”
Firefighters repeatedly ran into the blazing tower block to rescue residents, climbing to the upper floors of the building despite crippling exhaustion and serious fears it was on the verge of collapse. And as they fought the flames, they continue go back into the building, knowing the might never come out again.
A total of 65 people were rescued f the flats by the heroic firefighters.
Up to 80 residents of the tower are believed to have perished, but withou courage and relentless determination London Fire Brigade that day, the dea would have been far higher.
It took 250 officers 24 hours to ext the blaze and firefighters remained at site over the following four days.
Some put in shifts of nearly 24 hou they continued to search and damp d the remaining pockets of fire.
London Fire Commissioner Dany C would say later: “In my 29 years of be firefighter, I have never, ever, seen any of this scale.”
building. Volunteers rallied together to sort and distribute donations.
Boxes of fruit and vegetables were donated from local market stalls.
Westway Sports Centre was ransformed into a sanctuary, with donations of shoes, baby milk, nappies, soap and blankets. Donations spread to cover the entire tennis courts. At the same time businesses from the nearby Notting Dale Village development brought trolleys loaded with sandwiches and fruit for the emergency services.
In their community’s hour of greatest need, its people came together to look after each other with love, courage and dignity. It was a response that inspired the entire nation.