Minute by minute, the brave hunt by fire crew

1.26AM Fireman David Badillo meets Melanie, Jessica’s sister, outside the tower block. Melanie tells him Jessica is still in flat 176 on the 20th floor.

1.27AM Mr Badillo enters the lift on the ground floor.

1.28AM The lift stops at the 15th floor, where the doors open and the lift fills with black smoke. He is not wearing breathing equipment so he is forced to descend the stairs.

1.30AM Jessica calls 999 from the 23rd floor in flat 201. The call lasts 55 minutes.

1.31AM Once outside, Mr Badillo calls for five more fire engines, taking the total to 25. He goes back inside with crew manager Christopher Secrett and breathing apparatus.

1.48AM Visibility on the 20th floor is poor and they cannot see the door numbers. They find Jessica’s flat and search it twice but don’t find anyone. They think she may have already left so they leave the flat and meet a fireman who tries to contact colleagues outside but cannot get through on the radio.

1.55AM Mr Secrett’s breathing equipment is low on air and the firemen note the temperature has suddenly soared to unbearable levels. The firefighters leave the building two minutes later. Call logs show Jessica remained on the phone until 2.25am.