Grenfell stay-put advice was flawed, says blaze firefighter

THE controversial “stay put” advice in place during the Grenfell Tower disaster was flawed, a firefighter told the inquiry.

Gary Moore, a retired firefighter, who fought the blaze, said in his written statement that he believed “a lot more” lives may have been saved had the brigade advised residents to flee the building early on.

He wrote: “This is only my personal opinion, but I disagree with the brigade’s ‘stay-put’ policy. When I go around doing fire safety duties putting up smoke alarms to high rises I will get asked ‘What should I do?’ by people. I tell them what the policy is, but also say that I know what I would rather do.”

Residents trapped on the higher floors of the tower also “desperately needed” crews with extended air supplies if they had a chance of being rescued, Mr Moore said. He said it “quite quickly” became clear that standard breathing apparatus (BA) was not providing enough air for firefighters to reach certain floors.

Mr Moore’s role was to gather and deploy breathing apparatus. The firefighter, with 30 years’ experience at the London Fire Brigade, recalled seeing “waves and waves” of firefighters “eager to do everything they possibly could”. At about 2.30am to 2.45am he

‘When I go around doing fire safety duties putting up smoke alarms to high rises, I will get asked [what to do]’

said he stopped using the apparatus as their oxygen was running out, saying they “desperately needed” more crews with EDBA sets, which have extended air. At around 3.30am to 4am, a decision was made that anyone above the 11th floor was “out of reach” due to the ferocity of the fire, he said.

A total of 72 people died in the disaster. The inquiry continues.