‘I will always be haunted by the horrors of that night’
MICHAEL Dowden told the inquiry he would be forever haunted by the nightmare scenes he saw the night of the Grenfell tragedy.
Mr Dowden, London Fire Brigade’s initial incident commander for the blaze, said he would never forget seeing families scramble to escape the heat and fumes, residents as young as four choking on toxic smoke and bodies lined up outside the building.
He told the public inquiry into the tragedy that as he fought his way through the stairs and corridors, he came across one fleeing boy of eight who said his brother was lying dead in their flat.
He said he also helped a man in his 70s escape – only to see him later, lying outside among the dead.
He described in a written statement how crews went in without breathing apparatus after lending them to evacuees.
They went inside the building after the initial fourth-floor flat fire spread quickly through the tower.
“I particularly remember two young girls aged around four or five and seven or eight years old, who appeared to be sisters, and were being carried out wearing breathing apparatus sets,” he said.
Mr Dowden went on: “I bumped into a family of three trying to get out. I am not sure which level this was on.
“The male was black, in his 40s and he had a young child strapped to his back. The third person was female and I guessed that she was his wife.
“The male was affected by smoke inhalation and was coughing with fluid running out of his eyes, nose and mouth.”
He said at one point he went outside the building. “I could see people banging on windows for help,” he said.
“I remember seeing a female casualty come out of the tower.”
Mr Dowden told inquiry chairman Sir Martin MooreBick: “Mentally, things have got easier, but I will never forget June 14, 2017.”
He went on: “I am not aware of any other way we could have dealt with this situation.
“We all did what we could and acted as fast as possible.”
He added: “I have never seen a fire behave in this way.”